Of Nations and Cheese
by SuperLeaf
Summary: Wisconsin was definitely not at fault, really wanted to go back to America, and guiltily enjoyed himself as he was finally given attention.
1. Chapter 1

**Heh, see, I haven't stopped writing, per se... just haven't been writing the correct stories :D**

 **Hope you enjoy my fic about my little bean Wisconsin!**

* * *

Wisconsin was not a well known state. Sure, he had his moments, but the spotlight was taken over by the big shots like New York, Southern California (nobody was sure why one state was represented by two people; though they were quite different), Texas and Florida. Truth to be told, he was too busy to really care; he was rather proud of his standing in the US, though he sometimes wished to be given more attention by America. The nation was usually with the other countries, but he occasionally came to visit his states. With fifty of them, it was difficult to give everyone undivided attention, which Wisconsin understood completely. Personally, he struggled with giving all his farm animals his own undivided attention. He never thought it was enough.

Then again, there was one thing he was very well known for, and that was cheese.

Wisconsin certainly took pride in his cheese, that was for sure. He had a habit with discretely rubbing it in Southern California's face that they had failed to take claim to the name "Dairy State." Nothing beat his trademark sharp cheddar. He was also a rather calm character, except on the occasion of a football game. Those were always intense, especially when the Packers were against Illinois' team, the Bears. Of course, the Packers more often than not won.

Regardless, none of these traits were the reason behind countries suddenly taking interest in him. The only reason he was suddenly the most interesting thing since France's most recent scandal was because of two main reasons.

America and Mexico.

America had been a little too annoying, a little too outspoken, a little too _America_ , and Mexico was fed up with his whole attitude. It wasn't uncommon for the testy female to lash out at the American in discrete ways like spiking his food with her trademark spices or hiding all of his flags, but this time she was more irritated than usual, and her average annoyances weren't going to cut it. No, she had to strike _deep_.

Mexico had heard of his states though she had only met a select few, namely Texas, though she was also familiar with the other states sharing her border. And everyone had heard of New York and Cali, especially with all the bragging Alfred did.

She didn't want to bother any of the southern states, or even any of those in what they call "New England" (they sounded rather snobby, in her opinion). And those on the ocean's coast… well, Mexico thought there was only California, but nobody can blame her ignorance. Even America forgot the placement of his states sometimes, albeit seldom and often whilst drunk (poor Nebraska).

No, she wanted someone from what she had heard was dubbed the _Midwest._

And that is where our story starts.

-x-

"Ethan! Ethan, can you believe it! The Vikings wo-!"

"Shut up," Ethan, or Wisconsin, interrupted sourly. He _knew_ the Packers had lost. And to the _Vikings,_ no less. It was like a nightmare. It _was_ a nightmare.

"Come on, Ethan. Don't be such a sore loser." Michigan butt in. Ethan wrinkled his nose but stayed silent.

"What's this I hear? Did Wisconsin lose to Minnesota?" Illinois popped up cheerfully. Wisconsin groaned out loud. Illinois was unstoppable when he knew there was a chance at annoying Wisconsin. Of course, Wisconsin was the same, often mispronouncing his neighbor's name purposefully to annoy him.

"Yup!" Michigan piped up.

Wisconsin grumbled and hid behind his brandy.

"Well well well, if it wasn't just yesterday when you were braggin' about-"

"There's a tailgate party for the, uh, Brewers game. Promised I'd go." Ethan stood, glass in hand, and started stalking away.

"It ain't baseball season!" Minnesota called after him. Wisconsin ignored him and left the bar, starting his walk home, gazing at the flat plains with trees in the distance. He had a farm about a ten minute walk from the bar, knowing he would want to be able to go and drink alone without fear of driving drunk. Not like his own people were very concerned about that. His thoughts turned sour as he was reminded how many drunk drivers lived in his state.

He was halfway home when he realized he had taken the glass of brandy with him and was occasionally sipping from it. He wasn't disconcerted; the bar owners knew him quite well and would probably only tease him about it. It was a wonder to others that he was allowed to drink at all, appearing to be only fifteen to seventeen.

His door creaked open and Wisconsin stomped the dirt off his boots before walking in without removing said boots. He rubbed his dog's head absentmindedly as he grabbed a cheese stick from the fridge, one of the farm cats curled up on the window ledge, taking in the dying rays of the sun.

"Hmm." Wisconsin hummed to himself, rubbing his nose subconsciously and watching the sun fall behind a line of trees. The leaves of the trees still retained most of their green color, but the days were ending faster and leaves changing color. He glanced at his gun -which was leaning above the fireplace- with a smile. _It's almost hunting season-_

His thought process suddenly halted and he tightened his grip on the glass in his hands. There was a noise coming from the front… _looks like I'll be using that gun a little early…_ he thought to himself as he placed the brandy on the counter and reached for the hunting weapon. The shortish state crept forward and leaned against his wall next to the door. His dog, Copper, sensed his tight nerves and nudged his knee with his head, knowing not to whine to alert any game. Though Ethan was sure that the sound was not game, he hoped desperately that it was.

After nothing happened for a good five minutes Ethan peeked out the window. Seeing nothing but the fading light leaving his farm, he snuck outside to see what had made the noise originally, seeing as it was most likely not an intruder. His curiosity and good nature demanded that he figured it out, lest it be an animal in need. Copper followed him dutifully until Ethan waved him back, not wanting to scare whatever it was.

Ethan had the gun lowered and was looking around for an animal, so he was not expecting a hand to clamp around his mouth with a cloth on his lips. He flailed, dropping his gun and trying to elbow the person or pull the hands off his mouth. They expertly held on, keeping the cloth tight as the state slowly lost consciousness. The last image he saw was a darker-skinned human leaning over him with long curly brown hair.

Then all senses failed him and he faded into unconsciousness.

-x-

"Who is this?"

"Mein gott, Mexico, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"He's kinda cute~"

"Cute? Non, he's almost a replica of Alfred! He's adorable!"

Wisconsin groaned and placed a hand on his head. He had a headache unlike any he had had before. The sandy-haired boy sat up and blinked open his murky blue-green eyes. The strange curl on the side of his head bounced slightly from his movement. He stared into the eyes of many eccentric-looking strangers and was instantly uncomfortable. He enjoyed talking to people, sure, but he enjoyed being in his own state, too. And he knew from the unfamiliar twinge he felt that he was nowhere near his state.

"Uhm," he stuttered in face of the silence.

"Awe, his voice is so quiet!" A brunette woman cooed, squeezing his cheeks. He felt a faint blush rush to his cheeks and he sank into himself slightly.

"Elizaveta, give him space." A man with darker brown hair placed a hand on her shoulder while sighing and fidgeting with his glasses a bit. The woman named 'Elizaveta' gave his cheek one last pinch before backing off.

"He really does look like Alfred!" A spanish accent proclaimed, drawing Wisconsin's accent to the tall man with darkish skin and curly brown hair. Wisconsin blinked; he was sure there was a state somewhere that shared most of this man's traits-

"No he doesn't. Alfred has darker hair and a much more stupid face," a british voice broke in bitterly. This one Wisconsin recognized. England had visited America before during his designated 'state time'. Nobody else really knew about the states except for their neighbors (meaning mainly Canada and Mexico), so America had been forced to cut his 'state time' short, to their dismay.

After England's comment, a blonde had taken a jab at the former empire, and the room dissolved into chaos. Wisconsin blinked and was reminded, if only slightly, of the state meetings.

"What is your name, and what is your status?" Ethan's eyes fell on a stoic-looking blonde with a thick german accent. _German!_ He nearly jumped to his feet. This must be Germany, who was behind much of his culture. Many of his people spoke the language as well.

A man with hair as white as snow leaned in close to Germany and said something in german, to which the nation responded sharply in their language.

"I'm Ethan," he said in nearly fluent german. The two nations stared at him in confusion and interest, and Germany addressed him again.

"And what is your status?" He was obviously trying to allude to nation status without giving away too much.

"I'm Wisconsin." He stated proudly. His confidence withered, however, when he saw the two germanic nations exchange confused glances.

"And that is where…?" The man with white hair butt in, also in german.

"America." He said without thinking. Their eyes widened.

"Mein gott, Mexico! You kidnapped one of his _states?_ "

The room dissolved into even more chaos and Mexico tried to defend herself. Nations instantly started taking sides over whether the choice was good or bad.

"So…" The albino man sidled over to Wisconsin, who shifted uncomfortably. "How do you know german?" He was speaking the very language while addressing the uncomfortable state.

"My people are predominantly German, around 40%, ya know. It was, uh, around the 1850s I think, when a bunch of germans came to Wisconsin because of some problem happening across the pond. I dunno what, but they're the reason we have so many brats and beer and-"

"I can see our awesomeness made all the right impressions on you!" The man snickered a strange laugh that sounded like _kesesesese._ And though he said everything else in german, the word 'awesome' was obviously english.

"Er… could you tell me your name?" Ethan asked awkwardly.

"Me?" The man appeared affronted for a mere moment before his confident smirk was back on his face. "The awesome me is called Prussia! Kesese~"

"Prussia, mon ami, stop corrupting l'Amerique's child, s'il te plait." A french accent interrupted the continuous german being spoken. Prussia placed his hands on his hips and let out another obnoxious laugh, addressing the newcomer.

"The awesome me could never corrupt such a German nation!"

"I'm, ah, not a nation. Just a state, ya know?" He said nervously, fingering the edge of his flannel.

"Of course, mon ami! Remind me of your name? I apologize if you've ever told me it before, though I'm sure I would remember such an adorable face." the frenchman, who Ethan assumed was France, gave him a suave look. He turned red, his brain short-circuiting and forgetting about his own past in lieu of the unexpected flirting.

"Stupid frog, you can't wait a second before flirting with the new guy!" An irritated look passed by France's face before he turned and addressed the newcomer.

"Ah, just as charming as ever, Arthur! But please excuse us, we were having a conversation." And with that France turned his back on the british man. England looked about to make a retort when his eyes fell on the smallish state. His eyes widened ever so slightly and he blinked. England could have sworn he saw a teenage America standing there a moment before.

In the lapse of concentration on England's part, France had managed to get Wisconsin's name out of him. Well, his state name. Ethan wasn't ready to tell them his human name yet. And he was still too overwhelmed to realize exactly who he was talking to.

"What a charming state you are! But I must say, you remind me of someone else… it's almost uncanny…" France frowned, as if trying to wrack his memory for something.

"…Wisconsin?" A soft voice spoke up to his left, and Wisconsin perked up at the familiar voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Canada!" He yelped in happiness, throwing his arms around the quiet nation. Canada stumbled back a bit at his exuberance but caught the teen in time. Kumajiro pawed at the state softly, recognizing him vaguely. "Man, am I glad to see a familiar face!"

While the two interacted in an obviously friendly manner, France, England, and Prussia were staring at the two nations with gaping mouths. They were nearly the _same person._

While Wisconsin had the short hair of America it was closer to Canada's hair color, and the two were wearing similar red flannels and jeans, while Wisconsin's did appear to be a bit more used. There was a very similar curl bouncing off of both of their heads. The state was also shorter than the nation, but they could have easily passed as brothers.

"Wow! I knew they said you looked like America, but you're like his little brother!" A kind voice spoke up. Wisconsin looked away from his conversation about the best way to track game to see a pale haired man with a kind face and a strange accent.

"Hello, Finland," Canada said softly. Finland smiled, eyes flickering uncertainly. "Oh, hello, uh…"

"Canada."

"Ah that's right, Canada. It's nice to see you. Is this the boy that everyone's been talking about?" Wisconsin shifted slightly at the nation's words, ears turning pink.

"I'm Wisconsin." He introduced himself to yet another nation. A sudden thought struck him and he winced. _America's gonna kill me._ Then he briefly wondered where the obnoxious nation and father figure was.

"Finny! We wondered where you'd gone off to!" a man with tall blond hair jumped in grinning.

"H'llo." A tall, intimidating man appeared behind the small Fin and was staring at Wisconsin with an unreadable expression. He shivered; it almost reminded him of Alaska on his bad days. A man with a cross hairclip was also there, but he stayed silent. Then the man glanced around, seemed to spy what he was looking for, and dragged another blonde over by his ear. A puffin landed on the dragged man's shoulder.

"Ah, hello! This is Wisconsin, he's one of America's," Finland explained to his friends, gesturing to the state, who waved.

"'M Sw'd'n," the tall man said, nodding politely at Wisconsin. He nodded back meekly.

"I'm Norway, and this is Iceland, my little brother." Norway pointed to himself and the man next to him, who had a pout on his face.

"And I'm Denmark!" The last man burst out, pushing past the others and sticking out his hand in front of Wisconsin's face. Ethan smiled nicely and shook the Danes hand. While he was shaking his hand, who they were actually registered in his mind and he froze in place. From everything that had been happening he hadn't realized who he was speaking to. Denmark stared at him strangely, as he hadn't let go yet and had just stopped moving altogether.

"Y-you're… you're all…" Wisconsin seemed slightly daunted and overwhelmed by everything. The fact that he was only a state and that he was meeting all these big-shot nations was only part of it.

"Um… are you okay?" Denmark asked gently. This broke Wisconsin from his frozen state and he threw his arms around the confused Dane.

"Thank you!" Wisconsin muttered happily. Denmark had been the closest; Norway or Finland could have been his victim, and maybe even Sweden. Norway the most, however.

"Uh…" Denmark stared at the state with a bewildered expression on his face. He was sure he had never met the guy before, so he was completely in the dark as to why Wisconsin was suddenly very touchy-feely. "What are you thanking me for?"

Wisconsin faltered and drew his arms back, peering at the tall nation. His ears tinged pink when he realized his mistake. "Sorry. I shouldn't expect you to know. I'm just a little state, anyway."

Denmark's heart turned at the sight of the forlorned state and he prodded the teen for answers. "Explain it to us then."

Wisconsin brushed a lock of hair towards his ear but it fell right back into place when he brought his hand back. "A lot of your immigrants populated my state when I was really young. Yous guys are one of the reasons I exist."

"Wow!" Finland perked up, glancing between Wisconsin and Sweden. "All of us? Really?"

Wisconsin glanced at the fifth nation with white hair. "Well, not Iceland. But yeah, the four of you. Mostly Norway, though." Iceland didn't say anything and Norway had a contemplative expression on his face. Sweden's face was still blank though if you were looking closely you would have seen his eyebrow raise infinitesimally.

"When was it? I want to be able to place this," Finland said kindly, making Wisconsin brighten from the attention he was receiving from such an important personification.

"It was when my state was in early settlement, lots of Danes and Swedes and Norwegians came over, the Finns a little later but still important, but yous guys really helped me."

Finland's exuberance was cut off by the snickering of a certain Dane. When confronted with a questioning quirk of an eyebrow on Norway's face, he explained what he had suddenly found extremely humorous. "That's the second time you said yous guys, haha!"

Norway groaned and turned to apologize to Wisconsin while Finland blinked at his friend with a dry yet slightly confused expression. If sarcasm and being 100% done with the world had an expression, that was it. Sweden was staring at Denmark, not quite a glare, but close. Wisconsin himself had sighed; yeah, his accent wasn't the strangest, but it was still rather prominent.

"Sorry for him. He doesn't think before speaking." Norway informed the state. Ethan nodded slowly while Denmark pouted at Norway in jest.

"Ah, but non! That is where you are wrong!" France's loud voice cut into their conversation. The blonde nation was argueing with England and Prussia and the conflict was getting louder and louder, as all their arguments did.

"Of course not! The mere fact that you have the audacity to accuse me of being wrong is completely inane!" England shot back.

"Ugh, I need a beer…" Prussia muttered, already done being in the two's presence. Prolonged exposure could lead to insanity, and he didn't any more of _that_ in his life.

"Oh, can I come?" to the shock of every surrounding nation, it was Wisconsin that had spoken up. They stared at him and his eyes were bright and expecting, though his expression turned a bit confused by all the stares. "Um, is there a strict 'only nations' bar you really wanted to go to er no?"

"No, but aren't you a little young to be drinking?" Finland said gently.

"Oh! Nah, I've been drinkin' since I was this size!" Wisconsin held out his hand to about his chin, which wasn't much smaller than him anyway. "Besides, I'm not really a big lightweight! I am part German, ya know?" His spoke brightly the whole time and Germany raised an eyebrow while Prussia smirked to himself. Without knowing, Wisconsin had set himself up for a challenge. England and France had differing reactions when they recognized the smirk on Prussia's face and the challenging gleam in his eyes; while England rolled his eyes and groaned France suppressed a smirk of his own and elected to go on this trip to see what happened.

"Sure, little German! Come on, I know a great place, just follow me…" Prussia led the innocent state away noticeably up to no good. France followed, as did Germany and England. Finland was held back by Sweden, though he protested with the reason "he needs backup! I need to protect the little boy!" Denmark was not, however, held back by the Swede, so he followed as well, never one to turn down drinks.

Canada also followed, but nobody noticed him leave.

"Get this, it's true German beer, kesese!" Prussia pushed a mug towards Wisconsin, who took in happily. Prussia had his own mug of the same beer, as did Germany. England and France ordered something else, as did Denmark, and Canada tried to get the bartender's attention.

"Like it?" Prussia tested the state, who had drank a bit of the liquid. He nodded with a smile on his face and drank a bit more. Satisfied, Prussia leaned back, waiting to enact the second part of his plan. England and France were almost at each other's throats but Germany held them apart, not wanting to get kicked out again.

"Hey ma'am? Could you come over here real quick and get my friend somethin'?" Wisconsin nodded towards Canada. The bartender came over and got his order, filling something up for the quiet nation a few moments later. Canada shot him a grateful look but Wisconsin just shrugged, drinking more of his own beer.

"So… how is it?" Prussia asked slyly a few minutes later. Wisconsin gave him a sideways glance but told the germanic nation that he was enjoying himself. Silently he wondered if there was any brandy or anything of that sort here, but he decided to keep quiet and enjoy what he had been given. It was just as strong as his normal drink so he was quite comfortable. Ethan enacted some small talk with Canada. Canada had always thought of Wisconsin, as well as a few of his neighbors, as brothers or cousins of a sort. They all enjoyed hunting and winter sports, and they all appeared similar. Ish.

"I just… I don't understand!" A blubbering voice sounded from Wisconsin's left and he leaned to see past the albino seated directly next to him. There he saw the uptight nation of England leaning on France's shoulder with watery eyes. Ethan blinked in confusion. It had only been about a half hour, leaning towards an hour. How was he already shot-drunk? And where had Germany himself gone?

"Drunk England is the best England," Denmark commented. The Scandanavian was directly next to Prussia, the country of love and the drunk nation next to Denmark. From what Ethan could see, France was only a little tipsy while England was mostly gone.

"Um… is this normal, er no?" Wisconsin asked nervously. Prussia and Denmark chuckled to themselves and simultaneously took a drink. Ethan followed suit hesitantly and the two never answered his question. He suddenly realized he was in a strange bar with strange people, and not even Mexico knew where he was. Sure, Canada was there, but without a hockey rink he was never taken seriously.

As the night wore on, Wisconsin became more and more aware of Prussia's plan that the German nation had let Denmark in on. Every time Ethan's glass was empty the albino requested for his glass to be refilled, with something of the same strength or even stronger. The bartender was a little weirded out but Wisconsin had his human ID that proclaimed him of age despite his appearance. And whenever the albino was preoccupied (he kept trying to talk to Canada but always forgot his name, so he had elected to call the lean nation "Birdie", as most of the interactions involved his little bird Gilbird), Denmark made sure that Ethan's glass was always at least half full. Hours later France and England had left, to do what Wisconsin did not want to imagine as both were drunk.

The next time his glass emptied and Prussia called the bartender over to refill it, Ethan attempted to refuse him, saying, "Oh, I'm okay, I've probably had enough anyway-"

"Nonsense!" Prussia scoffed. "Any German nation should be able to hold their liquor! That's what my vati would always say!"

"I'm a state."

"Whatever! You're German, so that's what matters! Not holding liquor is unawesome!" He proclaimed, and Ethan found himself with another full glass. He just about sighed when he realized his initial suspicion was accurate: Prussia and Denmark were trying to get him drunk. And though Wisconsin was very used to alcohol- he was used to drinking during all hours of the day, bloody mary's in the morning and stronger stuff at night- he nearly pushed the glass away, not wanting to involve himself in this.

However, when his eyes caught sight of Prussia's challenging red-eyed stare, a spark of competitive spirit ignited in him. Damnit, if his football team couldn't win a game, then he would win this challenge!

And so he chugged the whole thing without breaking eye contact with the Prussian.

Prussia started laughed and pounded Ethan on the shoulder. "I like you, kid!" A pleased feeling ignited in Ethan at his words. It had been forever since Wisconsin had been able to drink with America, and it was never one-on-one like this. In fact, Wisconsin had only ever spoken one-on-one with America once or twice in his life.

"Prussia…?" Wisconsin started hesitantly. The red-eyed man turned to the state with a "hmm?" and found the formerly fired-up personification slouching in on himself and playing with his glass, avoiding eye-contact. Perhaps his visible emotions were a result of the alcohol, but his brotherly instinct instantly ignited at the sight of the suddenly sad teen.

"What's up, kid?" He said a bit more gently. Perhaps he had been rough with Germany, but he'd be damned if he screwed up another person's life from verbal abuse. Though Germany had still turned out godlike, somehow.

"Well…" Wisconsin swallowed, then steeled himself. The fact that he was talking with an actual nation (the fact that Prussia was dissolved was lost on him) had dawned on him again and he had reverted to a shy nature. "When I go back to America, back to my state, and this whole thing is over…"

Prussia impatiently moved his glass back and forth. A bartender swept passed and refilled both of the personification's drinks.

"Will you visit me?" Wisconsin blurted, looking at Prussia earnestly. Prussia, taken aback, blinked at the state for a moment before the question registered, when his face stretched into a grin and he proclaimed, "Of course the awesome me will visit you in America, little German! Who else can I drink with when Germany is with his little Italy? And I want to see what kinds of awesome beers you have in Wisconsin!"

Wisconsin grinned widely at that and sipped his newly filled beer. The state looked so pleased that Prussia patted himself on the back for handling that so perfectly. He would have to brag to Spain and France later.

And Denmark… was snoring on the countertop, the alcohol taking hold of him and his boredom causing him to fall asleep, cheek smushed in some spilled liquor. Prussia was snapping a picture of his friend when he heard a familiar voice and froze. A few seconds of quick thinking and back decision-making later Prussia was pulling a protesting Wisconsin after him out a side door of the bar, leaving all the beers on his tab. Their discarded drinks were all that remained.

Ten seconds later two countries burst into the bar, one trying to pull the other back.

"Wait- stop, Mexico! This is your fault! I need to find-"

" _My_ fault?! If you hadn't been so _stupid_ and-"

" _That doesn't warrant a kidnapping, Mexico!_ " America argued, pulling out of the insistent country's grasp and slamming into the bar, nearly tripping over a stool in the process. He ignored the knocked out and snoring Denmark and frantically grabbed the attention of the bartender. When she came over with a dry expression on her face he quickly asked if she had seen a man with ungodly white hair and red eyes with a smaller teenager that looked like him.

"Yeah, they were just here," she droned, leaning over the counter leisurely.

"Where are they now?" America demanded, hands on the table and leaning forwards in urgency. To his annoyance, she shrugged in indifference.

"I don't know. They might have left out the other door if you didn't see them."

America's eyes widened and he shot off, Mexico streaming after him and trying to hinder his chase, wanting to simultaneously chase Wisconsin with him and refrain him from finding his state. At the moment the refraining side was winning.

The bartender shrugged and went back to her job.

Denmark snored on.

And Canada pulled out his phone, shot Norway a quick message about Denmark's situation, and slowly started his walk to Prussia's house, where Wisconsin would most likely end up.

* * *

 _ **No I am not lying we drink an unhealthy amount out here in the cheese state.**_ **Well... I'm underage, so... of course I don't :)**

 ***cough***

 **Okay, a bit of history (for fun):**

 **During the 1840-1860s lots of the people from foreign countries were like "Oh look, America has lots of land. For cheap. And there's famine and death here." so quite a few people migrated to the Midwest, including but not limited to Wisconsin. Around 40% of Wisconsin is of German descent/is German, while quite a few are also/instead Norwegian and of the other Scandinavian countries (excluding Iceland, of course).**

 **And I learned all of this off the internet because I realized how frickin' uneducated I was on Wisconsin history. Also I wrote this history lesson after the fact so I apologize for any missed facts. If there's anything interesting you readers know, leave a comment! I love learned about history, especially since Hetalia makes it so fun!**

 **Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more, because it's definitely coming!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wh-what's this? An update? That isn't a month later? O.o**

 **(Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays broskis)**

* * *

Meanwhile, Wisconsin was chasing after Prussia. The germanic nation had found Ethan's glasses in his back pocket and had snatched them to give the state incentive. Then Prussia had proceed to race away towards his house, since he didn't want to drag Wisconsin the whole way there.

It had worked; Wisconsin was racing quickly after the albino, fueled by alcohol and irritation, and Prussia found himself needing to pick up his speed if he didn't want to be overtaken. It was a good thing his house was nearby, otherwise he might find himself face-to-face with an annoyed state. Losing his nation status had done more than wound his pride; he had lost most of his physical capabilities.

Prussia reached his house and bolted through the door, Wisconsin following soon after. They both slowed down and Prussia plopped onto a couch, playing with Wisconsin's glasses case. The state grabbed the case and put it back into his pocket before slouching onto the couch next to Prussia, finally having realized his ploy.

"Why are we at your house?" Ethan finally asked. There was a fire going in the fireplace and he was watching the flames dance. "This is your house, right?"

"Of course it's my house! You couldn't tell from the awesome decorating?" Prussia sounded offended but continued as if nothing had happened. "And because my awesomeness felt like it. You need a place to sleep, anyway."

Wisconsin nodded slowly, a feeling of discomfort and homesickness settling in. He wanted to see America.

A few seconds of silence stretched into a minute and Prussia heaved himself up from the sofa, wandering over to the kitchen.

"Want anything?" He called back.

"Crackers. And cheese. And a piece of dry grass or hay, honestly. I should go out back if I want that-"

"You want _what?_ " His incredulous tone stopped Wisconsin's tangent in its tracks. Ethan blinked.

"Uh, crackers, cheese-"

"No, after those! You want some grass? What are you, a cow?"

Wisconsin felt like he should feel indignant, but he really didn't. He was often called derogatory farmer terms by upper-class states so he being compared to a cow in that sense didn't really faze him.

"It gives my mouth something to do. Sometimes I get fidgety ya know. I'm assuming you don't have any hay or dry grass so I'll do without. A toothpick would probably work anyway. But I do want crackers and cheese." Wisconsin stood up and passed the albino to walk into his kitchen. He had found some crackers and a little bit of cheese, so he was happily munching along into the living room when he froze. There were more people there, and he vaguely recognized three of them from before.

A squeal sounded and he found himself the subject of interest. A woman with long brown hair seemed to move faster than light from across the room, since she appeared right in his face in less than a second.

"You are _soooo_ cute!" She refrained herself from smothering him but couldn't help the cooing. "It's like a smaller, sweeter version of Alfred!"

"Elizaveta, please…" the man with dark brown hair and glasses sighed, placing his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. Elizaveta, whose country name was unknown to Wisconsin, pouted but backed off. Prussia scoffed loudly and a dangerous expression fell on her face and there was suddenly a frying pan in her hand that seemed more dangerous than a frying pan should. Prussia choked on his laugh and backed inconspicuously behind Germany.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you two," Wisconsin said softly, addressing the dark haired man and brown haired woman.

"I'm Hungary!" The woman said cheerily, waving at the state.

"My name is Austria." The man spoke in a posh accent and he pushed up his glasses. Wisconsin nodded then munched on some more cheese and crackers, and the countries didn't seem to know how to take that.

"Prussia, about the reason we came…" Austria turned to the albino nation and started discussing something that Ethan dubbed unimportant. He finished his crackers and cheese and suddenly yawned, feeling exhausted from all the attention and events of the day.

"Oh, you must be exhausted. Here, I know where the guest bedroom is…" Hungary noticed his tired face and lightly grasped his elbow, leading him down the hallway and into a room. It was sparsely decorated and contained a bed, a dresser, and a vanity with a large mirror. Wisconsin blinked a few times as he was basically placed on the bed.

"Now get some rest, it doesn't do anyone good if you're tired for tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be just as exciting as today, knowing America." Hungary patted his head motherly and left the room, closing the door softly.

Wisconsin stared at the spot she had just been. At first he had thought her to be an overbearing annoyance type of person, who was constantly up in people's faces, though that was based on his first impression with her. It turned out that she was rather motherly, to his delight. He had never really had a mother figure, except for the blurry memory of before he was an established state.

Ethan stripped out of his clothes and slid under the covers of the fluffy comforter with a sigh, feeling the familiar rub of cotton on his bare skin. He was half asleep and therefore barely aware of it at the time, but Hungary came back in quietly and gathered up his clothes to wash for him for the morning, carefully placing his glasses on the nightstand. She brushed some of the hair out of his eyes and sighed, remembering when she had to take care of Italy. Sure, Wisconsin was a teenager, and one who could beat Denmark at drinking at that, but she still felt that mother hen personna activate whenever he was around.

She shook her head in defeated exasperation. She always got attached way too quickly.

-x-

Canada sighed. The teen was already asleep. He would wait until morning to take him home.

-x-

He woke surprisingly peacefully, the sun a little above the horizon to his surprise. Usually he was either up before dawn or slept until noon verging on the afternoon. He was nocturnal at one point as well for a few weeks.

Ethan sat up and let the covers fall off his upper body and stretched out his shoulders, muscles tensing. He let out a sigh and slid off the bed, bones cracking on the way to the bathroom where tried to begin preparing for the day mindlessly when he stopped with a shock. For one, he wasn't in his house. For two, America did not know where he was. For three, none of his neighbors knew where he was.

Wisconsin groaned. Michigan was gonna _flip_. They always raked the millions of leaves together to kick off hunting season. And Illinois would be upset he wasn't there for throwing a football around. Minnesota had said he wanted to show Wisconsin a new movie or something- though the two had been very close before, Wisconsin felt an insatiable jealousy and irritation towards the state. They used to be the same; then he left him in the dust.

Ethan wrinkled his nose at the thought of his one-sided rivalry (Minnesota was often thoughtless when he held himself on an annoying but accurate higher pedestal). _Screw you, Liam,_ he thought viciously. Then he immediately felt bad about it and apologized to Minnesota- all still in his mind.

"Wisconsin?" There was a knock on the door and Ethan started. "I have some of your clothes for you." It was the pompous voice of Austria, surprisingly. He opened the door and looked up at the man who had his clothes folded in his arms.

The man's face instantly turned pink at the sight of the shirtless state, and Wisconsin glanced at himself with a surprised "Oh! Crap!" He slammed the door in the Austrian man's face. "Sorry!" His muffled voice sounded from behind the door and he hoped against hope that Austria hadn't seen him.

"I have your clothes," the Austrian said forcefully, opening the door slightly and shoving the clothes through it. While Ethan was taking the folded fabric through the crack Hungary came bustling around the corner, saying, "I forgot something!"

In her arms was one of America's sweatshirts that she had thought Wisconsin would have liked. America had a bad habit of leaving articles of clothing at nation's houses, mostly sweatshirts, shirts, and socks, though occasionally pants showed up.

"Thanks!" Wisconsin snatched the sweatshirt through the crack in the doorway and shut the door with a soft _click_.

"Well, I suppose he's not related to France, then?" Hungary said slyly.

"Elizaveta, please…" Austria sighed and turned away.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin was admiring the sweatshirt Hungary had found. It was red and said _Fifty States of Awesome_ on it, and the clothing itself was large (no surprise there: it was made to fit Alfred), so it appeared rather baggy on him. He then tried to get his hair (and that stubborn curl) to lay a little flatter to no avail. He was cursed with, as a few other states teased, the American hair. Every state had something in common with their founder, America, (most considered him a much older brother) but some features were more obvious than others. Many states needed glasses as well (he did, but he never wore them, thinking they looked stupid and that they only got in the way anyway). He slipped the glasses case into his back pocket.

A bang sounded from outside the window and he froze, peering carefully behind the glass. That had sounded like… like a gun?

He saw a figure come sprinting haphazardly in the direction of the house, their limbs flying all over the place in their frantic bolting. Another man was behind them with a shotgun in hand, yelling profanities at the first man, who had auburn hair.

Without really thinking about it Wisconsin opened the large window and clambered out of it, curious since he hadn't seen this person at the meeting. Maybe he had simply missed him.

"Veeee~!" The first man ran past yelling in fear or exhilaration Ethan wasn't sure. The second man, who had a military uniform on and blonde hair to his chin, stopped running but fired a few more warning shots into the air. The man with auburn hair disappeared into the house and the man with the gun stood panting. He wiped his forehead and lowered his gun, glaring in the direction of the house.

He turned and noticed the state standing and staring at him and raised his gun suspiciously. At the sight of a barrel pointed directly at his face Ethan balked, raising his hands in surrender. He muttered something about being peaceful but the man didn't bite.

"Who're you?" He jerked his gun at Ethan and the state flinched slightly. He had been shot before from various circumstances and didn't want to relive the experience.

"I-I'm Wisconsin!" He blurted out before realizing this man may not even be a nation, let alone know who he was. The blonde narrowed his eyes.

"Big brother, big brother! Look what I found!" A soft voice came from behind them and a frustrated, worried expression passed through the man's face. A girl with light blonde, short cropped hair came into the picture and Ethan blinked. The two looked strikingly similar, though the girl was obviously more feminine.

"Lili! I'm in the middle of something!" He snapped. She paused and blinked at Wisconsin, a boy that appeared to be around her age. He was right outside Germany and Prussia's home as well, so she assumed he must be a nation she had not met yet.

"What's your name?" She asked kindly, pretending she couldn't hear her older brother's protests. "I'm Lili. I represent Liechtenstein." In the background she heard "You told him your _human name, too?!_ "

"I'm Wisconsin," Ethan respondes uncertainly, trying to pinpoint where Liechtenstein was. Nothing came to mind. "Uh, where's Liechtenstein?"

"Hmm." She didn't seem at all perturbed by the question. "Right between Austria and big brother Switzerland!" _Switzerland… ah, that must be the blonde man. The Swiss, wait! They immigrated to Wisconsin too!_

"Ahh… okay." Wisconsin said, though he still had little idea where that was. She seemed satisfied, anyway, and continued their conversation.

"So where's Wisconsin? I've never heard of that nation before." She once again pretended she couldn't hear her older brother. Yes, she loved him to death, but he couldn't prevent her from trying to make new friends.

"Oh, uh, I'm not a nation," Ethan laughed awkwardly and a flash of panic swept through both Switzerland and Liechtenstein, both nations thinking they had released confidential information to a human.

"I'm a state," he continued, oblivious to the relieved breaths the two let out. "I'm in America, ya know!" He boasted, then winced when he realized his mistake. Thankfully the innuendo was lost on the innocent nation and she nodded.

"Lili, we need to go," Switzerland insisted, and Wisconsin brought his attention to the gun in the Swiss's arms and gasped.

"Oh my god, is that a Winchester?! Model 1894, holy jesus I use the same gun!" Wisconsin blurted unthinkingly. Switzerland stiffened, not wanting his sister or any other country to know he had a gun from the origins of the US at hand, and was using it, no less. Usually he used firearms from his own country, but he had been testing this one out when Italy had helpfully ran through his yard, prompting him to put it to the real test.

"Yes, this is a Winchester model 94…" The Swiss peered at the state for a moment. "How did you know?"

"I just recognized it, that's all! Wow, can I see it real quick? I haven't seen a gun in… well it's only been a day, but I always get antsy around hunting season, ya know?" His hand twitched to hold the gun but Switzerland held it close to his chest, though a sliver of intrigue had settled in his mind. This state, one of America's supposedly, could identify his gun in minutes and apparently knew how to shoot as well.

Too bad Switzerland wasn't able to continue this almost-discussion about guns. Before they could do anything, Wisconsin was tackled from behind and he tumbled to the ground with a yell. A brown jacket and smothering arms filled his vision and he breathed in the familiar scent.

"America!" He said joyfully, awkwardly throwing his arms around the nation while they were on the ground. His father-figure's obnoxious laughter filled his ears, sounding like music. The large nation jumped to his feet and pulled Wisconsin with him, grinning.

"I can't believe Mexico did that! Man, was I pissed when I found out that she had taken one of my own states!" America proclaimed, patting Ethan on the shoulder. The state smiled blindly, not noting the wording of America's statement until later. It was too bad that America said nothing about missing Wisconsin himself.

"Ahh crap! It's America!" Prussia appeared at the door with a freaked out expression on his face. America's face darkened but he had no time to react when he was suddenly bowled over by a bunch of spaniard exuberance.

"Quick, amigos! This is our chance!" He shouted, restraining the shocked America on the ground. America punched him in the face but this did not deter him, and seemed to only fuel his determination. Prussia yelled in agreement and Wisconsin found himself thrown over a shoulder. But it wasn't Prussia, Ethan could see him assisting the spaniard, who must be Spain.

"Désolé, mon cher." The french in his ear shocked him. He knew there were many French-speaking countries, but this sounded so refined, so unfiltered, that Wisconsin knew it had to be France himself. The state wasn't sure how he had talked to flowery nation at the meeting, since he was now spellbound.

He was with _France._ The man- or nation- who was responsible for most of his founding: the first European to set foot in what would be Wisconsin was French, after all. His earlier conversations with the nation cause him to mentally slap himself. How had he not realized the importance of the man earlier?

Of course, England was a huge part in his founding as well, but that novelty had worn off long ago once he had heard the man's temper. Wisconsin could handle fire (he winced at his wording), but when someone was outright rude to someone he cared about, he had no compassion.

While he had been wrapped up in his thoughts, Spain, Prussia, and the withheld America faded from his view. And Liechtenstein and Switzerland, of course, but they had started to return to their house. Switzerland hated choosing a side.

France smelled like perfume. It was slightly unnerving.

The two made it to another house and Wisconsin was thrown onto a couch within said house with an "oof!" He sat for a moment in disbelief. He had just been kidnapped from his kidnappers who had kidnapped him from his kidnapper.

"I do feel a bit guilty for snatching an unsuspecting -er, state, was it?- from America's grasp," France mused, almost posing as he stood in contemplation. Wisconsin blinked.

"And as you already know, I am France, known among nations as Big Brother France…" He boasted, letting out his usual spiel. Claiming to be a big brother to all nations had never gotten him anywhere in the past, so he was not expecting the teenager's arms to be wrapped around his torso.

"Euh…" He said in confusion, his French accent leaking more than usual. It was hard to catch the old nation off guard, he had seen many many things (some less desirable than others), but this little state had managed it in mere minutes.

"Big brother France!" Wisconsin peeped happily, staring at the blonde with a smile etched on his face. It was rather childlike, as if the state had reverted to his ten year-old days. A warm feeling started pulsing in France's chest; this child was just as full of love as Canada and just as excitable as America.

He was just about to respond with something that would probably initially be sweet but have a hidden innuendo (it really wasn't his fault at this point; they just slipped out) when Wisconsin blurt out another statement that caught him off guard.

"You named me!" He nearly shone with happiness at the ability to speak with the one who had named him. While being aware of it, anyway, since he had spoken with the flowery nation earlier.

"Huh?" France put the boy at arms length and searched his face. It didn't seem like the teen was lying, but France had no recollection…

"Well, the initial name, sort of. It was a play on a word of one of the tribes, my river. We're not sure which tribe… but anyway, it was spelled wrong as Ouisconsin by one of the French, uh, la Salle I think? I dunno, but then the Americans came through and it was respelled as Wisconsin, 'cause it's more American. Is that cool er no?"

The new information shocked France slightly but he took it in stride. "Of course, mon ami. It's an honor to be the reason for a name of one of America's own." Something wrong twinged in Wisconsin, but he pushed the feeling away.

The euphoria of initially meeting France was quickly wearing off and he realized the size of this situation. America had little idea where he was, and Mexico had no idea. Canada was probably… actually, Wisconsin had no idea where Canada was. Regardless, nobody he had known before the kidnapping had any idea where he was.

Which sucked.

A lot.

"France? Could you help me once-" Wisconsin started softly, thinking over how he was going to ask this.

"Papa, who is this?" A feminine voice broke through his thoughts and France winced at the sound of her voice. Wisconsin peered around the stiffened form of France to see a pretty girl with long, dirty blonde hair in a braid with a large bow.

"Monaco!" France said in a falsely cheery voice, straining to stop himself from kicking her out. Unbeknownst to any of those in the room, three pairs of eyes were peering at the group from the window. "I didn't think you would be here!"

"No, you wouldn't." She examined the state with intrigue or scrutiny, Ethan wasn't sure. He shifted uneasily. "I was missing your wonderful cooking, Papa. Is this man another one of your… friends?" She said the word with disgust. "He looks a little young for you, but I can never tell…"

"Oh, no no no!" France waved his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. "This is one of America's."

Monaco's face scrunched up even more. "One of America's friends? Then why is he here?"

"Non! Ouisconsin is a state! He's one of l'Amerique's states!"

"Oh!" The disgust drained from her face to be replaced by relief. She turned to the silent state, whose mind was running a mile a minute.

"Désolé, Ouisconsin. I am too used to Papa bringing home men and women." She held her arm out for a handshake and Wisconsin obliged, though he silently told them that his name wasn't supposed to sound so French.

"I get it." He did not get it at all. "It's great to meet you, Monaco."

She nodded in appreciation and gave him a once-over. A sudden spark shone in her eyes. "Want to play cards?"

"Cards?" Wisconsin brightened. "Like card games? I love card games! Usually I only play solitaire though since dogs can't really play-"

"No, Ouisconsin. I mean gamble. Do you want to gamble?" She asked again.

"Oh, I try not to gamble-" Ethan tried to protest. Ever since that game with Minnesota…

"Afraid you'll lose? To the likes of me, a small girl?" She challenged. He nearly narrowed his eyes and agreed for his pride's sake when he noticed the gleam in her eyes. Unparalleled confidence shone in them, and there was a very…

Well, a very _Nevada_ like gleam in them. He instantly backtracked, knowing Nevada was the best of the best in the states. Las Vegas was no joke.

But he also knew that she wouldn't back down, so he went to his default:

"If you can beat me at drinking first."

She raised an eyebrow at his compromise. Usually that was all it took for countries to agree to gamble with her, and promptly lose all their money or possessions. But she could work with this. Living with France for a while didn't leave her a lightweight.

(Speaking of France, he was currently on the phone with a distraught Picardy. France had commanded him to keep watch of Spain, Prussia, and America's fight. Unfortunately, the loss of nation status severely crippled Prussia and Spain was not the superpower he once was. Fortunately, Spain could still hold his own and Prussia had a strange army of birds keeping America at bay.)

Regardless, she had underestimated her opponent. Wisconsin had her under the table in almost less than an hour.

"That's so-" She hiccuped. "-unhealthy. Where do you keep it all?"

Wisconsin shrugged, sipping from his seventh beer. Or was it sixth? He couldn't remember. It was good he was a personification, otherwise his liver would have basically died by now. And the alcohol from the night before hadn't completely left his system. In fact, he was feeling a little tipsey.

"Ouisconsin, I believe that's enough. She's done." France supported his former colony with his shoulder, rolling his eyes and he led her to a bed to collapse on. Ethan sighed, finally alone for the first time since he woke up. It was silent.

For about thirty seconds, anyhow.

"Man! If I knew that was the secret to her fall, then I would've tried that ages ago!" Another foreign voice greeted his ears and he groaned. How many people was he going to meet before he was back home?

Another wash of homesickness swept through him. That little time with America had not been enough, and strangely enough, he missed his own dysfunctional family as well. He would have even settled for Southern California.

Actually, no. It was better he wasn't here. Wisconsin much preferred his sister, Northern California.

"Couldn'ta said it better mahself! The wee lass was gone before the hour was out!" A thick accent permeated the room, and three men tumbled through the window. Wisconsin stumbled backwards, not expecting company via the window. The three men peered at him through a tangle of limbs. Silence stretched out, until…

"So, Wisconsin, eh?" the man with ginger hair finally questioned.

Wisconsin's mouth flapped open and closed, and felt 110% done with the world. Literally. He wished all the nations would leave him alone. He wanted to be with the little guys.

"Er… nice weather we're having?" The man with light brown hair said as if it were a question.

"NOPE!" Wisconsin turned on his heel and fled out the door. "Nope, nope nope nope! I'm done! I'm going to find America myself!"

"Wait!" the men stumbled to their feet.

"Lad, hold up!" The man with bright red hair streamed out the door after him, his brothers right behind him. France glanced out the window and gasped, seeing the state quickly disappearing. He paid no mind to the pursuing Kirkland brothers and merely bolted out the door after the state as well.

Prussia and Spain sighed. They had managed to point America in the wrong direction of France's house through careful manipulation, and had hopefully bought them some time. They froze when they saw the state himself sprinting from three men with horrendous eyebrows and a frenchman running a few yards behind them. Their eyes widened and they exchanged glances before bolting after the poor state as well.

"Leave me alone!" He cried out, pumping his legs furiously. Unfortunately, he was not well known for his speed, and the men were steadily gaining on him. He frantically glanced around him, trying to find something he could use to his advantage. His ears picked up a lone statement:

"Russia, this is a lovely sunflower, no?"

Ethan felt hope flood through him. Alaska had spoke often about his close neighbor, Russia! He had said the country was nice enough and that he was rather protective of the cold state, despite him belonging to America.

He took a sharp right, skidding a bit before finding his footing and ran in the direction of the voice he had thought he heard. A tall woman with short cropped pale blonde hair came into view, as well as a tall man with a white scarf. Another woman stood by them.

"Russiaaa!" He cried out. The man turned at the sound of his name, a curious expression on his face. Wisconsin decided to take a risk and dove behind the imposing figure, trying to shrink to keep out of sight of his pursuers, who rounded the corner soon after and came to a skidding halt at the sight of the large nation.

"Hm?" Russia glanced behind him at the huddling teenager. "Hello, small. Are you a nation?"

"I-I'm Wisconsin! I'm a state, I'm friends with Alaska!" He exclaimed, grasping the back of Russia's coat. Russia cocked his head to the side.

"Alaska? You are like Alaska?"

Wisconsin nodded mutely, feeling oddly comfortable around the normally scary nation.

"And what are you all doing here?" He asked the formerly-pursuing-Wisconsin nations.

"Err…" Spain started uncertainly.

"Well…" Prussia continued.

"It's funny, really…" France laughed awkwardly.

"Ye see, the lad was causin' a bit o' trouble…" Scotland voiced with his prominent accent.

"And we were simply-" Wales started.

"-trying to punish him!" Northern Ireland blurt out. The other nations turned to him in horror and he turned redder than his hair with a small "whoops."

"Punish?" Russia said slowly. "You wished to punish the small?"

"N-no! Never, amigo!" Spain said hastily. The others input their own version of negating Russia's statement, but the cheerful nation ignored them.

"We will leave now, yes?" Russia asked Wisconsin. Ethan nodded gratefully and followed him, the countries behind him watching in helplessness as the state was lead away by the fearsome Russia. If it wasn't bad enough that America had lost a state, but now that _Russia_ had him…

"I'm out!" Wales proclaimed, hands up in surrender as he left the group. "I am not taking any part in this!"

Northern Ireland agreed instantly and Scotland followed with a joke at the remaining nation's expenses. That left France, Prussia, and Spain. The bad touch trio were together once again, and they were at a loss of what to do.

"I need a beer." Prussia was the first to break the silence.

"Si." Spain agreed. "I will call Roma to see if he wants to come as well."

"Russia will keep the state occupied for awhile, non?" France said.

"Si." Spain replied absentminded, phone in hand.

"We'll just never tell America about this." Prussia stated firmly.

"Tell me what?"

The three let out very unmanly screams.

* * *

 ***knows nothing about guns and lives in a hunting state***

 **Also I couldn't help myself, I just needed that little bit with the Kirkland brothers and yes, there is more, yes Russia is clever, and yes, Belarus is scary.**

 **Also Asia. (but I suck at writing Asian countries and with no internet to look up every personality quirk about like, Taiwan and uh... Macau?)**

 **Aaaand I'm still debating on whether or not to add the Middle East and/or Oceania (sorry South America and Africa... I don't no squat about your characters)**

 **To cut this long A/N short, I'm going to add that no, this is not just about Wisconsin meeting the other countries (even though it was initially- /shot/) because I remembered a particular event of our history. history nerds maaaay know :)**

 **GilZeAwesomePrussia : One, you have a rad name lemme just say. Two, thanks for the info bro! As a resident (southern) Wisconsinite I know all to well about the Bears/Packers rivalry, but I don't hear a ton on the Vikings (we just insult them a lot haha) and yes, the cheese is perfect and I've heard a bit about the Spotted Cow thing so thanks for confirming it! :D (also for reviewing at all, you deserve the name Prussia /shot/)**

 **ruckocoo** **:** **Ahhh thank you! Sorry the other states didn't make an appearance in this chapter, though there were honorable mentions! I'm glad to see you find my little bean adorable :D (also, if there is a particular state you want to make an appearance/be mentioned, just say and I'll see what I can do!)**

 **oh my god this is long af sorry ^^;; til next time bros**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm... not sure how I feel about this chapter. and I'm sorry it's shorter than usual T^T hopefully the next will be extra long**

 **Oh and I don't own hetalia but that's obvious**

* * *

"Russia, where are we going?" Ethan dared to ask.

"We are going to my house." He said happily, Russian accent prominent.

"We should make some piroshky for little Wisconsin!" The woman with short cropped hair said in the same upbeat tone as Russia.

"Da." Russia nodded his head in agreement while Wisconsin was left wondering what the heck _piroshky_ was.

"My name is Ukraine, little Wisconsin," the woman with short cropped hair finally said, smiling at the state kindly. "And this is my sister Belarus." She gestured to the woman with long blonde hair with a bow in it. She had an icy stare and Ethan was rather intimidated by her.

"Hello, mini." Belarus said in a deadpan tone. Ethan stared at the three in disbelief. Sure he wasn't huge, but for all three to come up with different variations of the nickname small was ridiculous.

"H-hi Belarus, Ukraine…" He said politely. Belarus stayed silent but Ukraine bubbled out small talk that didn't require much effort from Wisconsin's end. He stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.

The four personifications reached the house and Russia opened the door for the three others, leading them to a comfortable looking living room.

"I will start the making of piroshky," He proclaimed.

"I will help." Ukraine said, following the large nation into another room that Ethan assumed was the kitchen.

That left Belarus and Wisconsin sitting awkwardly in the same room. Belarus was lounging on the couch while Wisconsin fidgeted uncomfortably on a cushiony chair. Belarus took a knife out of her pocket and started mindlessly flipping it around, seemingly unaware of the glinting sharp edge. Ethan felt the alcohol start to affect his judgement so he went on even higher alert, not wanting to insult the scary nation.

She didn't seem very bothered to interact with him at first, but when Russia called out a random question to Wisconsin she glanced at the state curiously. Her gaze seemed more like a glare, though she hadn't meant to seem intimidating. She leaned forward slightly on the couch without breaking eye contact.

"Mini. Why does big brother like you?" Wisconsin was so startled that he was speechless for a few seconds, during which her eyes narrowed dangerously, as she thought he was ignoring her.

"Do you not have an answer?"

"N-no, it's just… I don't know why he likes me?" Ethan said the statement as a question. She went silent, continuing to flip around the knife. Ethan shuddered unnoticably and wished Russia and Ukraine would hurry up with the… _piroshky._

"What do I do to get big brother to like me?" she said suddenly, glaring at Wisconsin again. He jumped.

"U-um, you could… m-make him something?" He said questioningly. She narrowed her eyes in thought.

"AHH RUSSIA ARU HELP!" A loud voice screamed and a figure burst through the door and slammed it shut behind them. They were breathing heavily and were flat against the door, glancing everywhere frantically. Their deep brown eyes landed on the pair and he immediately recognized Wisconsin's awkward feelings.

He opened his mouth to question the state when a _bang_ sounded from outside. The man widened his eyes and pressed harder against the door.

"China?" Russia voice sounded from the kitchen, confusion laced in his tone. "You rarely come here. What is the matter?" As if his words had summoned the russian, the large nation appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

"It's South Korea, aru! He's terrorizing me and Japan!"

Russia nodded sagely and beckoned the traumatized country. China ignored his summoning gesture and paled when the door banged again. A dark look crossed the large scarved nation and Russia crossed the foyer in three large strides. He gently pushed China to the side and swept the door open, his trademark ice-cold expression of innocence plastered on his face.

Wisconsin peeked around the rather big figure of his friend's friend (well, he liked to consider the colder state a friend, though Richie more likely than not forgot about his existence…) to find two figures. One was obviously assaulting the other in strange ways, and the black-haired victim threw his assailant's arms off of him and scuttered around Russia into the same nation's house- it was the first time the country had desired to enter his neighbor's house and he hoped to not make it a habit.

The other country pouted and crossed his arms but did not dare cross the intimidating nation standing in front of him.

"You will leave now, da?" Russia asked innocently, cocking his head to the side. Wisconsin widened his eyes. _God, Alaska needs to stop hanging out with this guy. He's picking up all of his habits._

"But, but, da-ze!" the country protested, peeking to try to find the raven-haired man he had formerly been chasing. "I'm bored!"

"That is not a problem for me, da?" Russia's eyes flashed a sharp purple color. Wisconsin shrank in on himself. _Maybe I should have listened to America's warnings…_

The man pouted again, wrinkling his nose and seemingly unaffected by the changes happening in the powerful nation's eyes in front of him. "No…" Then the man perked up. "Maybe Hong Kong will want to play, da-ze!"

The man mock saluted the large country before him before scuttering off, a happy grin on his face. Russia seemed to almost-shrug before closing the door and landing his eyes on the two new nations residing in his home. His face was back to the child-like innocence that was slightly unnerving. He started addressing China and the other nation but Wisconsin was distracted by the blade-happy female sitting beside him.

"Wisconsin. Do you love anyone?" she questioned, a curious, hard look in her eyes. Ethan considered her question for a minute, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yeah, I would say so…" Ethan answered, his eyebrow twitching slightly in thought.

Belarus hummed to herself. "Who?"

Ethan startled. "Well, not that I would ever tell them, I guess I love Michigan and Ohio… and Minnesota and Illinois too, but I'll only say that once. Hmm, and Indiana is part of the great lakes, and I do love them too. And I love most of the states to some extent, I'm not on good terms with some but I do enjoy my sibling's company. And of course, I love America!"

Belarus took this in as she did most things: silently with a slightly threatening look on her face. Ethan blinked at her, suddenly not as scared. She reminded him vaguely of Montana, they suffered from RBF (chronically Resting B*tch Face) as well. He liked Montana, she was kind at heart… and her state was rather pretty, too.

"Er… do you love anyone?" he finally asked awkwardly after the silence started to get to him.

"I love big brother!" her face went completely possessive in a split second. "I will become one with him!"

Wisconsin jumped at her sudden change in character. Okay, maybe not like Montana after all.

She turned to the small state. "Do you think I will become one with Russia?" She had asked this question to many other countries before and had gotten various answers, but they were always categorizable into three sections: blubbering instantly a yes, or staying silent for a few seconds before smirking out a no before saying yes at knife-point, or screaming and bolting.

Wisconsin did none of these things and seemed to actually consider her question, something that struck a chord in her. "Hmm."

Ethan turned his gaze to Russia himself and saw him patting an awkward looking China on the back. He stared at the large nation's eyes and felt a breath of air leave him in sympathy. Belarus was pining after a taken nation - the fact that they were siblings did not faze him; technically all of the states were siblings, and that definitely did not stop inter-state, er, relationships (let's say there was a lot of drama down south- literally, Louisiana was the biggest gossip ever, and Mississippi didn't encourage them any).

"Erm, Belarus, watch him," Ethan decided to point out instead of flat-out saying "Gurl, it's a lost cause, give up."

Belarus glared in her brother's direction and Ethan sighed. "No, _look._ Don't just stare at him; watch his actions, his eyes, the way he moves."

She rolled her eyes but complied, examining his movements closer than before. Denial started flooding her brain that was caught with an undertone of her inner-voice (she thought she had rid herself of that bastard, but it was back).

Her eyes hardened and she turned to give Wisconsin a full-blown glare for pointing this out, but the state was staring at the interactions in front of him with a sad look in his eyes. She almost growled at being ignored (well, sortof) but was interrupted by Russia finishing terrorizing/talking to China.

"Wisconsin! I hear America is looking for you, da?"

"Er, I hope so…"

"Da, that is what I thought. America is not my friend. And I learn from China that America is looking for his little state, and I know how to hurt my not-friend. You understand?" Russia started approaching Wisconsin with a glint in his eye that the little state did not feel comfortable with.

"You say you are like Alaska. Alaska tells me he does not like America. But you like America."

 _Richie I swear to god I am going to murder you with mustard when this whole thing is over. All 5,676 kinds of it._

"Come, Wisconsin. I have a place for you~"

"No thanks, been there, done that, got the postcard, bye!" Ethan jolted upright and sprinted towards the door, but Russia veered into his path so he scrambled in the other direction through a hallway. His heart pounded in his ears and he jerked his head left and right, scouring for a place to hide.

"Wisconsin, this is my house, you cannot hide!"

Ethan swore in three different languages in his head and turned down another hallway. Up stairs, turn left, go straight, turn right… the hallways started running together in his head. The heavy footfalls started sounding closer and closer so Ethan did the only logical thing at the time: try all the doors until you find one unlocked.

It turned out that he only had to try two doors before he found a closet with dusty coats and dresses in it. Without a second thought he slipped in and shut the door behind him, coughing a bit on the unsettled dust. He tried to get to the back of the closet and tripped on a piece of cloth, causing him to attempt to steady himself only to fall heavily on his backside on the hard wood of the closet. Something jabbed into his flesh but he suddenly held his breath at the sound of footsteps.

They inexplicably paused outside his door.

Ethan shut his eyes tightly, whole body tensing.

They continued on.

He waited for what felt like ages before moving to remove that unknown thing that was making sitting so uncomfortable. He reached back and pulled out a box-like object from his back pocket. His eyes widened a considerable amount when he realized what it was: _his phone_.

 _Holy cheese curds and gravy how did I forget about this!_ He fumbled with the device for a few seconds and called the first person on his speed dial. Minnesota.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. Six. Seven-

" _Hi you've reached Liam Jones, I'm not available right now so leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."_ Ethan's heart sank at the unoriginal ringtone. He tried to keep an upbeat attitude, knowing there were many others he could call-

" _Hey you've reached Michael Jones, I'm probably boating or skiing right now so I probably won't be available for a few hours. Leave a message after the beep, unless you're Ethan, Liam, Mitchell, or Dylan, because it's probably about something stupid."_

Michigan, too? He pressed another button and waited with bated breath.

" _Sorry, I'm not here right now."_ A voice in the background that sounded suspiciously like his own called out " _You gotta say your name, idiot!"_ a groan, then " _Sorry, Mitchell Jones isn't here right now. I'll call you back when I'm available, unless you're Dylan, Liam, Michael, or Ethan, 'cause then you can piss off._ " Laughter, then his voice again: " _rude!"_ and the line went dead.

Illinois… could have gotten his phone stolen, right? That happened a lot in Chicago, right? Ethan tried to forget that Mitchell, Illinois, wasn't going to be anywhere near Chicago, since there was more to his state than just the city.

Ethan took a deep breath. There was still Ohio and Indiana- wait, scratch that, Michigan ran over Indiana's phone a few weeks back and she still hadn't gotten a replacement.

Ohio.

One ring… two… _come on, Dylan…_ three… four…

" _Hey, Dylan Jones here!"_

"Oh thank god, you can't believe what I've gotten myself into, I really need some hel-"

" _Bahaha ohhh Michael that was a good idea! Sorry, I'm not here right now, leave a message after the beep!"_

There was some laughter and then a ringtone. It buzzed in Ethan's ear and he sat in defeat.

How could none of them be at their phone right now? Not one?

He groaned and leaned his phone against his face, pressing some buttons but not really caring. How was he going to get himself out of this mess?

His phone started the call tone and he snapped out of his reverie. Who else did he have on speed-dial? Who could he be-?

"Yo whattup 'sconsin, wonderin' when you'd crawl back."

Oh _hell_ no. Not _him._

"I did not mean to call you."

"Mmhmm, okay. But like, you called me somehow."

Ethan weighed his options. This was his last ditch effort at getting help. He had nobody else on his phone- it was brand new, since Michigan… well, he had run over Ethan's alongside Indiana's (Veronica) but Wisconsin had merely gotten another phone quicker than her.

"Okay. California, I really need some help once. I can't get ahold of anyone, and I'm stuck at… well, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, alright? I just need you to get ahold of pretty much anyone else and ask them to call me. Can you do that er no?"

"Yeah, well… I _would_ , you know I would, haha, but like… I don't really want to right now, y'know?"

Ethan gritted his teeth. He could almost _hear_ the fool examining his nails. And he was also feeling a lot more desperate at the sound of footsteps.

"Seriously Cali, forget all of our rivalries and just help me this once. I don't have anyone else to turn to, and-"

"Oh! Oh, I get it! Like, now it all makes sense!"

"What?"

"I'm joking, I never understand you crazy Midwesterns. God, y'all are weird. Also, if you want my help, you gotta give me somethin' in return."

"Like what?" Wisconsin felt an unhealthy amount of trepidation.

"Hmm… kinda want to go back to the good ol' days, y'know? Think you could do that?"

Ethan felt sick to his stomach. "No, I don't think I can."

"Yeah, but like, I don't want anything else… have all the things I need… except for that Dairy title, 'course, I'm gonna get that one day."

"Cali, please don't do this. I really need some help right now."

"You begging?"

"I-" Ethan pressed his teeth together and shut his eyes. "Yes. I'm begging you, please help me."

"Haha, you crack me up."

"So-"

"Nah, I don't feel like it. Call up one of your weird bros 'cause I ain't helpin' ya if you ain't helpin' me. See ya, punk."

"No no no no no no don't hang up!" _Click._

A tear fell down his cheek and he scrunched up his face, wiping away at the salty water with his fingers. He had a phone with no available contacts. He had never felt so useless and unwanted. Where were his brothers? Why was he in a closet? Where had he gone wrong in his life?

A sudden spark of hope started in his chest. He knew America's number by memory, maybe he would answer. Yes! His older brother had to answer, he was looking for him! A small, relieved smile stretched across his face as he entered in the numbers and waited for his hero to pick up the phone-

" _Yo it's Alfred F. Jones, the hero of the world! I'm off doing heroic deeds and such, so-"_

The rest of the ringtone faded in his ears as Ethan dropped his phone and buried his head in his hands, more tears rolling down his face against his will. He hated crying when it was unwarranted, and he thought at that moment that he should not be crying. So what if you're alone? So what if you're stranded in a creepy man's house with no help? So what if nobody knows where you are? So what if nobody… cares…

A thought struck him and he curled deeper into the fetal position. America never did want to find him to find his family, did he? For him it was the idea of one of his states being taken, right under his nose, that really made him made. Good job, Mexico. Props to you. You succeeded in your task, and you didn't even have to babysit! Congrats. Have a gold star.

He sniffled and wiped at his nose.

When was the last time America- Alfred, went fishing with him? Hunting? Boating? Even out for coffee at Starbucks or out for lunch at Mickey-D's? When was the last time the country did anything with his states?

Illinois told him he missed going to games with the country. Michigan said he wished he could ski with him again. Minnesota said he wanted to go snowmobiling with him again. Ohio missed running, Indiana missed car racing. Montana liked to paint and she claimed Alfred gave her a piggyback ride to the top of one of her mountains so she could get a good view. Wyoming chilled with Alfred in some hot springs, some more safe than others.

What happened? Yes, fifty states were a lot to deal with, but just visiting them for a day, an hour, five minutes could change everything.

Ethan had hugged Alfred and Alfred had hugged him when they were reunited.

When was the last time he had done that?

* * *

 **heh rip Ethan M. Jones**

 **sorta unedited, might fix later (y'all like the state's ringtones?) also** **rip Asia I suck at writing them**

 **deadlydaisy8o8** **: Ahh thanks! And those were my thoughts exactly (hello from your next-door neighbor!) I would love Michigan advice, idk how to write Michael :') all I know is y'alls are pretty badass and I go skiing there sometimes XD. Your praise makes me so happy, I hope you liked the update ^^;;**

 **Guest : Cheese curds are the golden gift from heaven. don't question the cheese curds. and yes, there are a lot of bars XD (and Germans tbh) I wouldn't like it any other way XD**

 **Review? :D? (help I'm drowning in bad ideas for other states personalities)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I said it would be longer. It is not longer. But hey, Belarus :P**

* * *

The door to the closet opened and Ethan flinched violently at the sudden light. The figure in the doorway crouched down. "You are alone."

The words drove spikes into Ethan's heart and he twitched. The figure sat down and he glanced at it; Belarus. She was probably going to give him away to Russia, then he would… wait, what _would_ he do? What if it was just locking him in a room or something, and not the overreacting thoughts on torture?

"I am not good at consolation, but I know what it is like to be alone." Belarus had a far away look in her eyes. "That is why I want to marry big brother. So I will not be alone."

Her words were met with silence and she felt unusually awkward. Was she doing this right? Was she suppose to bring chocolate or something? Belarus wasn't sure, having no experience in this situation. Ukraine was better than her, and her ways of cheering one up were a little abnormal.

She shifted and almost stood up when Wisconsin spoke. "You should tell Russia that."

She stared at his curled form. His head peeked up from behind his knees and his red-rimmed murky green-blue eyes peered at her.

"Tell me what happened," she all but demanded, but Ethan didn't seem to mind. He wiped his nose with Alfred's sweatshirt - the thought of which only made him feel worse - and began.

"I was trying to call my brothers, including big bro 'Murica. I just want to go home to my farm, and my family would help me escape. But none of them answered except for Southern California, and he told me he wouldn't help me unless I… did something I don't want to do. Not even Alfred answered his phone, and it's _always_ on him. I just… Belarus, I'm always alone, why does it hurt so much right now?"

She contemplated his inquiry silently. She knew what it was like to have a family and what it was like to be completely alone.

"Because they are not there for your worst." She finally answered, uncertain but steady. Wisconsin considered this and seemed to accept it, coming out of his ball of misery if only slightly. He blinked a few times and gazed at a few of her old, dusty dresses before moving his stare to her eyes.

"Can I… can I hug you?" he said nervously, unsure on how she would react.

"Why would you want to hug me?" she seemed merely curious but it only made him feel more awkward.

"Because… that's what people do when they want comfort. They hug people." His answer was mediocre at best, but she understood what he meant.

"Okay." She shrugged, seeing no problem with this, and moved, opening her arms as an invitation. Ethan moved slowly at first then nearly collapsed in her arms, squeezing her torso tightly as if it would make all of the problems go away. She slowly brought her arms around his figure and returned the hug.

Ethan felt the warm feeling of a mother hugging him, even though he knew Belarus couldn't even be considered a friend yet. She felt warm and good and comforting.

Her grip tightened on him as footsteps sounded. Wisconsin didn't look up, but he knew that the owner of the heavy footfalls could be none other than Russia himself. His eyes were already closed but he squeezed them together as if it could make him unaware. It only made his eyes feel constricted and see dots.

"Belarus! You found the small!" His voice was delighted. "But I am confused. Why did the small run?"

Belarus prodded him to answer the question and he squeaked embarrassingly. "You're scary and I thought you would hurt me!"

There was silence, and all Ethan could hear was their breathing. Then Belarus spoke up and asked, "But I am scary too, and you are hugging me."

He didn't think much about his answer. "You're less scary!"

The two countries were quiet for so long that he thought he had broken them. Finally Ethan glanced at their expressions, the tense situation becoming more awkward as seconds wore on.

Russia was staring at him like he had grown two heads while Belarus had conflict flickering through her eyes. Ethan swallowed and scrambled away from Belarus. "Um, forget I said anything…"

Russia seemed to do just that and started forwards to close the larger-than-Ethan-originally-thought space between them when his head jerked forwards slightly as if hit by something. His expression turned curious and dark at the same time which Ethan found interesting, albeit scary.

There was a moment of nothing when another object pummeled into Russia's turned cheek. He was still, in a contained anger, calm sort of way. Ethan felt his heart plummet for whoever was going to be on the receiving end of his rage.

The spherical object rolled to his feet and his face paled considerably. He recognized this and the meaning it entailed. Belarus gazed at it curiously and picked it up, turning the baseball-sized object in her hands.

It was an orange.

And Wisconsin knew there was one person who loved oranges.

"Wisconsin, your heroes have arrived!" cried the unmistakable tone of Wisconsin's nightmares.

 _Southern California._

Oh, and it looked like Florida was with him, which explained the oranges. Then again, California was pretty crazy about the fruit, too.

"Wisconsin, who are these lowlifes?" Belarus questioned him lightly with a dark undertone, raising her eyebrows in contempt.

"Who're you calling a lowlife?!" California exclaimed indignantly.

"You, stupid." Florida nudged him with a smirk.

"Hey, who's side are you on?" California asked incredulously. Florida snickered and tossed another orange up and down in his hand, seeming to contemplate whether or not he should throw it.

Russia was reaching slowly into his coat to pull out something - who knows what he kept hidden in those heavy pieces of cloth - and Belarus was straightening with her knives twirling around in her hands. California had bright eyes and an America-like grin plastered on his face with dual pistols suddenly appearing in his hands, making Ethan go even paler than normal. Florida rolled his eyes and pulled out a revolver from his back pocket and Ethan felt all oxygen leave his body. The last thing the little farmer state wanted was a full out gunfight (well, guns vs. knives vs… was that a pipe?).

And if things weren't crazy enough, a flash of green smoke accompanied by a _bang!_ poofed into existence behind Ethan. He almost didn't want to turn around, but his curiosity won out and he peered over his shoulder at whatever was behind him (in all the confusion, he was still sitting on the ground… probably with red eyes from crying, too).

It was England.

Ethan wanted to laugh and cry all at once.

"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" he exclaimed in his trademark british accent. Florida and California gaped at the incarnation of the country America had rebelled against. The stories Alfred told were very exaggerated but it was still interesting to see the man himself, no matter how many times they had eavesdropped through a door on the important country-to-country conversations America and England would be having (usually consisting of lots of yelling, so the eavesdropping wasn't really necessary).

"We are having a standoff. You will not interrupt, da?" Russia innocently challenged England.

England raised an eyebrow haughtily. "You think I'm so old I've lost my sense of fun." Ethan coughed and England ignored him, opting to allow a strangely sinister smirk to stretch across his face. "But now you have the help of magic on your side."

Ethan felt faint as he finally stood up. States vs Countries? They didn't stand a chance.

He suddenly blinked, having miscounted the states. Or maybe those two just appeared. Somehow.

Then again, it was Massachusetts. She was a little touchy if you talked about Salem but never denied her affinity for magic. Unfortunately her powers were a bit limited, fortunately (for everyone else, not for her) that power was teleportation, leading her popularity among the states as an escort. Normally she shut down anyone that came to her for traveling purposes (except for a few of her neighbors and friends, of course) especially if they were one of the big-shots- the smaller states had created the group title and the big-shots themselves had no idea.

Regardless, when California and Florida had come to her with the predicament, she knew she had to extend an olive branch to them for Wisconsin, a state who had always been polite to her.

She was also bribed. But hey, whatever works, right?

Beside her was a state Wisconsin hadn't seen in awhile. They were a bit awkward but incredibly proud of their academic achievements and often misunderstood, especially with their state in the middle of America and partly farmland.

"H-hi Wisconsin…" Iowa said softly, as always awkward in front of such an important crowd.

"Er… hi, Iowa…" Ethan frowned, wondering when was the last time he had explored the state of Iowa with his old friend.

"I see you have another magician among your ranks." England eyed Massachusetts carefully. She shifted, putting on a strong front even though every state present knew she could do nothing against the strong country with a rich magical history.

Ethan shook his head. This was spiraling out of control incredibly fast.

"So let us begin, da?" Russia clenched his pipe, more excited about an unforeseen fight than keeping Wisconsin. It had been a while since he had fought against unknown opponents. Belarus grinned creepily to herself. Maybe she could prove herself to big brother and he would marry her in compensation. Then she would give him a wedding present like Wisconsin recommended.

Florida and California got their guns ready and Florida pulled out a knife from his pocket. It wasn't his favorite weapon but he had only brought his revolver. The four most violent leapt at each other and Ethan flinched away from the sudden sounds of a fight. He wished for his rifle.

Massachusetts and Iowa suddenly appeared in front of him, Massachusetts with a blank expression and Iowa with a smile twitching onto their face. Their shoulder-length hair was a mixture of dark, ruddy brown and lighter chestnut of which many states were quietly jealous of. Massachusetts had dirty blonde hair verging on light brown that she dyed a lighter blonde with a streak of red on the right side of her face.

"You really got yourself into a mess this time, Wisconsin." Massachusetts cracked a smile. She had been on the receiving end and the observer's end of many of the midwestern state's pranks. Wisconsin screwed up his face in indignation but never got the chance to respond.

"I'm not going to let you take him." England was suddenly in their little circle with flashing green eyes.

She responded instantly. "You can't stop me." Massachusetts' eyes flashed in challenge and Ethan felt a weird sensation sweep through his body and the hallway of Russia's house faded away in a swirl of colors. The confines of the hallway melted away to show a medium-sized room and Massachusetts furrowed her eyebrows. Iowa glanced about themselves in confusion.

"Er… Massachusetts, where are we?" they asked.

"I… don't know…" her face twitched in annoyance.

"Of course I can stop you. You are so untrained it's simple work to tweak a destination to my whims." England was still there and Massachusetts wrinkled her nose in frustration. England smirked. "And now you can see the full extent of what magic can do. What do you say, witch? Want to be burned at the stake?" His hand enveloped in fire at his words and Massachusetts had just as much fire burning in her eyes. Wisconsin blanched, staring at the flames dancing in England's palm. Iowa observed silently but a nervous expression wormed its way onto their face.

"I'm not afraid of you," Massachusetts spit at him. Both Wisconsin and Iowa thought it was foolish and simultaneously agreed in their heads that she had a special kind of screw loose.

"Oh, but darling…" England's poison colored eyes darkened dangerously. "You should be."

"No... not fire..." Iowa glanced between the flames and Wisconsin, fear starting to show more obviously on their features.

Wisconsin flinched as the fire in his hand grew larger. He was completely unaware that with Massachusetts standing in front of him and Iowa that if England unleashed the flames at them then he would have to move. (Later he was glad he had taken off his sweatshirt and had handed it to Iowa otherwise he would have been in an awkward situation.) The fire was so… so…

England shot the flames at Massachusetts and she easily dodged out of way via teleportation. Iowa dove, but Wisconsin was frozen. The fire somehow, miraculously, did not burn him to a crisp. Unfortunately now he was surrounded by the flames of England's magic.

" _It's spreading! They say this is the end! There's no way we're getting out of this unscathed!"_

" _Jump in the river, in the wells! We can escape there!"_

"Wisconsin! The fire, it's getting to him!" Iowa cried out. Neither Massachusetts nor England heard the little state and he stared helplessly at the blaze getting closer and closer to the dairy state, who was staring but not seeing.

" _Help! The fire, it's swirling, like a whirlpool, like a…"_

" _Tornado! It's a fire tornado!" He screamed, feeling the flames eat into his skin. He was nowhere near the fire but as a personification there was no escape._

England and Massachusetts finally noticed once Iowa literally threw themself in front of the two hotheads. They frantically spoke to the two and gestured to the raging wildfire that surrounded in silent and stoic state.

 _People were drowning and dying of hypothermia in the river. People were burning beyond recognition. So many were dying there was going to be nobody left to identify the dead. Where was America? Where was Alfred? Where was his brother?_

"What in the bloody hell is he doing?" England was stumped and Massachusetts racked her brain for information. Iowa attempted to find a way to put out the fire.

 _There he was. America, the self-proclaimed hero and hero to most of the states. He breathed a sigh of relief before being overcome with coughs from smoke. He felt new burns appear over his body and it was scathing._

" _Wisconsin!" America called out, coming to his state's side. Wisconsin doubled over in pain._

England dispersed the flames best he could, but they were magical and didn't want to stop burning. By the time he managed to stop the fire Wisconsin's shirt was burning and they had to strip it off the unresponsive state lest he be burned by the smoldering bits of cloth.

" _There's a fire in Chicago!" he heard from someone. Illinois was suffering the same thing, but Chicago was so much more important…_

" _Leave!" Wisconsin choked out, pushing America away. "Help Illinois!" America stared at the state, insides twisting as he complied, knowing the economical importance of Chicago. Wisconsin was left moaning in pain on the ground as his land and people burned._

Massachusetts paled and England's hands stilled and Iowa was unblinking. Maybe they had prevented the burns of now, but the scars of the past shone blatantly on Wisconsin's skin. He suddenly blinked, seeming to come back to the world of the living opposed to the ghosts of the past.

His gaze was void of feeling as he slowly looked down at his bare chest, bringing his hand up to touch one of the many burn scars covering his flesh. He looked back up at the three beings before him, having stopped fighting for the time being.

They were all silent as the fire continued to rage behind Ethan's eyes.

-x-

"Good thing we're good at running, huh?"

"Shut up, Cole."

-x-

America took a deep breath and massaged his temples. This was ending up to be much more stressful than he had originally thought. Wisconsin was in an unknown place (stupid BTT, never tell him anything) with unknown countries and he had failed at his caretaking title. He was as bad as England; he had forgotten to visit his states.

A small dinging noise broke him from his thoughts and he drew out his cell, blinking at the text he had just received. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

 **From Iggybrows [14:23]:** A lot has happened and I believe it's time to fill you in on the events. We have all found ourselves in an interesting predicament and it involves your state, Wisconsin, along with a few others who I have forgotten the names of.

Alfred fumbled with his cell in his haste to reply.

 **From McAlfred [14:24]:** wisconsin? where is he ? i need to save him still!

 **From Iggybrows [14:26]:** Well, as of right now he's in decent shape. However we are in the field behind the Netherland's house, though the Netherlands himself is not here. I'm not sure how your state knew to teleport here, however, this is where all of us ended up.

 **From McAlfred [14:26] :** teleport? wtf how did massachusetts get there? an in a field

 **From Iggybrows [14:28]:** As I stated before, your state, Massachusetts it seems, teleported all of us to the field. And she seems to have done all of us a favor and left Russia and his crazy sister in Siberia. While your states are annoying (which is not surprising in the least) your Massachusetts is something interesting.

 **From McAlfred [14:30]:** ok first off keep your hands off massachusetts. Secondly WHY TF WERE YOU IN SIBERIA Y WAS WISCONSIN IN FRICKIN SIBERIA

 **From McAlfred [14:30]:** and I'm coming over

 **From Iggybrows [14:31]:** You'd best be coming, America. Your states are in various states of disarray.

 **From McAlfred [14:31]:** i thought you said they were fine

 **From Iggybrows [14:33]:** They are safe as of right now, yes. Oh, and I asked the names of your other states. It seems that Florida, California, and Iowa are here alongside Massachusetts and of course Wisconsin.

 **From Iggybrows [14:41]:** America, are you still there?

 **From McAlfred [14:43]:** tell cali he's grounded

* * *

 **this could have been longer but it would have included *forced angst* so i didn't want to distract from the fire. I also may edit that to be more dramatic because _damn_ the Peshtigo fire was _bad_. **

**History time! The Peshtigo fire was the deadliest fire recorded in American history and happened on October 8th, 1871, the same day as the Chicago fire. Obviously, Chicago is more important, so Peshtigo's story was all but forgotten. People were throwing themselves in rivers to escape the fire and they would either A. survive, B. drown, or C. die of hypothermia. The fire was going on 110 mile an hour winds and was "at least" 2000 degrees F. 1500 to 2500 people died, as there weren't enough people to identify everyone who had died so it's an uncertain number.**

 **In short: it was a big-ass fire that killed a lot of people :) (and was forgotten)**

 **And look! States! :D (review/dm me if you want to see a state make an appearance, but I can't promise it'll be big :P)**

 **This is going to be a long af A/N sorry XD**

 **deadlydaisy808** **: thank youuu :D I was struggling a bit with russia knowing everyone likes him to be just a "big teddy bear" but like,,,, he's _Russia_ so the "rabid" part is there too XD I do love Russia tho so he's not the "bad guy" just a little scary XD**

 **Guest : low-key just gonna... nurse my wounded pride here... nah I don't keep track of college football, but thanks for the tidbit! and thanks for reviewing :D**

 **MisfitMadhatter : ahhh thank you :D I hope you enjoy the update and thank you for reviewing!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I've accepted my chapters are no longer going to reach that 5000 word mark. Appreciate my 3000 word efforts XD**

 **Also who needed some Unneeded Angst**

* * *

Things went downhill fast.

As England was messaging America, Florida and California were fooling around with their guns. Massachusetts claimed she was too mature to play but the pistols kept disappearing and reappearing at random intervals. Iowa tried to stay out of it and Wisconsin tried to stop it. Southern California saw Alfred springing towards them across the field and scowled, turning towards the quietest state there.

"Iowa! Catch!" he called out, tossing the gun at the small state. Iowa widened their eyes and fumbled with the gun that was definitely _not_ on safety.

A resounding _bang_ sounded through the field, echoing as if they were in an enclosed room. Ethan's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, losing all sense of hearing for a few moments. Voices were a blur in the back of his mind and the colors of the sky and grass seemed to waver uncertainly.

Iowa gaped at their brother, looked at the gun, and dropped the metal contraption on the grass hastily, paling rapidly.

Ethan seemed to look down at his front in slow motion, staring as a blossom of red started staining his abdomen. He blinked once, twice, three times before stumbling backwards again. He lost his footing and tripped, about to fall onto his back only to be caught by strong arms and placed gently on the ground. Ethan connected his murky green eyes with those of Alfred's, sky blue and full of surprise and guilt.

" _Wisconsin!_ " California's voice tore through him and the state himself was by his side in an instant. "Oh my god! Oh my god, Wisconsin!" Iowa was struck dumb, dead silent except for their ragged breathing. Florida was rigid as well, but he was muttering under his breath rapidly with wide eyes, perhaps a prayer or merely terrified rambling. Massachusetts was blinking, as if the image in front of her was switching between memories and reality.

"No…" America whispered, staring blankly through his lenses at the red spreading through Wisconsin's front. "No no no! Wisconsin!"

Ethan cocked his head to the side slowly, eyes becoming hazy. A strange thought struck him and he smiled almost lazily. "Shot through the heart, but you're too late…" he murmured. America stared at him as if he had gone crazy. Maybe he had.

He turned his gaze to the other being beside him. "Guess I'm really _falling_ for you, huh Cali?" California glared at him angrily. But he couldn't bring himself to chastise the stupid state.

He registered someone stripping off his sweatshirt - he liked that sweatshirt, it was America's, and America rarely gave them things… though he supposed it wasn't a gift from America, it was from Hungary, wasn't it? He would have to thank her later. But did he already thank her? Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to repeat. Ethan squinted slightly - he should wear his glasses more often if he had this bad of eyesight. But he could have sworn it was America above him, fussing over the dull pain in his abdomen.

England rushed to help and both him and America set to work on cleaning and dressing the wound properly. Florida and California watched in horrified fascination as the two worked, swallowing when they saw Wisconsin's eyes close for a few long seconds before America shook him awake again. Iowa had their eyes closed tight. Massachusetts had a glazed look in her eyes and she was unmoving where she stood.

Minutes stretched longer than they had ever felt before. America's heart pounded in his throat and he deftly started applying bandages. England was helping still but he also observed the one-track mind Alfred had seemed to take on when caring for his state.

Eventually Alfred sat back and England with him, the two gazing at the tired out and sleeping body of Wisconsin. They seemed to have forgotten about the other two states entirely as they stared at nothing and everything in front of them all at once.

"Wisconsin… I wish I could have done more…" Alfred started reaching for the state when something inside of California snapped and he very nearly growled (in the back of his mind he thought this was a heroic moment worthy of Hollywood), stomping over to his country. He drew back his foot and swiftly kicked him in the chest, successfully knocking the country backwards out of mostly pure shock. Alfred blinked up at the half-state, his glasses (Texas, of course) askew on his face.

"You don't deserve to say that! Not to Wisconsin!" California narrowed his eyes dangerously. "He was literally kidnapped from you, right under your stupid burger-smelling nose and you didn't even care!" Alfred opened his mouth to object but California wasn't finished. "All you cared about was like upholding your image and beating Mexico! Like, get over yourself, Alfred! America is a great country, the best in all the world, but Alfred is an awful brother who doesn't even, like, know his own state's names!" California was getting really into his rant, punctuating all the right words and making all the right hand gestures, but his valley accent leaked into his speech. "Like, Wisconsin was so upset, so far into desperation that he even called _me._ We, like, hate each other! At least, I know he hates me! How could you have sunk so low that he has to resort to calling his enemy?"

Alfred was silent and California stepped forwards, ignoring the fact that he was shorter than the nation. "I wasn't even going to come when I checked where the call had come from. _Russia,_ Alfred. Wisconsin was in _Russia_ and you had no frickin' idea."

There was silence. England was solemn and Florida had a shocked but hopeful look on his face. Iowa looked as if they was three steps from being liberated. Massachusetts was weary but there was a glint of… was that appreciation in her eyes? California was breathing heavily and Alfred was quiet for once. The bespeckled country opened his mouth slowly but once again his state interrupted him. "Tell me his name, Alfred. What is Wisconsin's name?"

His silence answered the question better than words could. At the obvious looks of disgust on both California and Florida's faces he scrambled to redeem himself in any way he could. "But I remember your names! California and Florida, I know your names! It's Eric and Nora!" he said desperately. Florida's eyes widened and he almost felt like crying, flinching at the name. California nearly snarled.

"My name is _Cole_." Florida spit out. "And it has been for nearly twenty years. Even California calls me Cole, and we hate each other." California nodded in agreement while England secretly found their relationship to be an awful lot like Hungary and Prussia's, albeit slightly less violent from what he could tell.

"I'm sorry," Alfred choked out eventually, taking off his glasses to rub at some water that was starting to leak out of his eyes. "I never would have thought this would happen."

Neither Eric nor Cole said anything for long moments, neither state willing to accept his apology. They both knew that the midwestern states would be more apt to trusting, and the western states more willing to move on, and the eastern states more ready to attempt a compromise. The south would try to mend the broken ties in the family or move away from them altogether.

"Most states still consider you to be a saint." Florida, Cole, suddenly spoke up. "They are mad at you for not visiting them as much, sure, but they still like you. I have to deal with it every time I talk to Mississippi and Louisiana and I can't bear to crush their hopes. Because you don't care at all, do you?"

"I do care, I just don't have time-"

"His name is Ethan." California spat scathingly. "And you were everything to him."

-x-

 _Another accident. Nothing major. Still hurt like hell, though. Ethan writhed on the bed, feeling his stitches starting to rip through his shoulder._

" _Ethan!" Minnesota snapped, pushing the state back onto the cotton sheets. Ethan protested with a whining voice that was indiscernible for all who heard it, save South Dakota from her experience translating her twin's mumbled speech. Allison, however, was not present (which was probably good for the mental health of Minnesota, who was already straining with keeping Ethan healthy without adding the added stress from dealing with South Dakota)._

" _Can't believe you shot him," commented Illinois, his sunstained hair shaking as he laughed in amusement. "Unbelievable."_

" _It was an accident!" Michigan protested. He poked at Ethan's not-shot shoulder hesitantly. "But you're okay, bro."_

" _Oh my god." Minnesota groaned. "Michael, he was shot in the shoulder. By you, might I add. I don't think he's okay."_

 _Ethan lifted his unshot arm and flashed Michigan -Michael- a thumbs up while Minnesota was speaking. Michigan flashed his trademark grin at his bedridden brother. Ohio snorted at the whole exchange. He was kicked back and pretending to read while watching the drama unfold in the living room._

" _The anesthetic should be wearing off soon, so you'll be able to speak without having a numb tongue," Minnesota said, a smug undertone earning him a deadly glare from Ethan. It was just like Liam to 'accidentally' numb his whole mouth, preventing him from making any noises other than unintelligible garbles. But he could feel the anesthetic dispersing through his face, spreading to his ears and jaw and neck uncomfortably. Soon he had a strange, half-asleep sensation of his entire lower face and part of his upper._

" _No hunting for you~" Ohio snickered. Ethan groaned and whined at the same time, flailing his arms around helplessly._

" _Stop moving!" Minnesota commanded, pushing down the arm connected to his shot shoulder. "Honestly, how are you not in pain?"_

" _Oh, he is." Illinois moved closer to the bed. "He's just an idiot."_

 _Ethan shot him a look that said 'thanks, bro.' as sarcastically as he could manage. Resigning to his position of nothing, he settled into the bed and let out a huff of breath. Liam -Minnesota- let out a relieved puff of air and sat back in one of the chairs strewn about the room._

 _Ethan beamed, sensing the feeling start to come back into his mouth and allowing him speech. And though he would never say so, he was grateful for his family being there for him to help him out (even though it was Michigan's fault in the first place)._

 _The memory of inside his home faded away softly and he fell deeper into sleep._

-x-

The wind whistled through the grass forlornly. The situation, once charged and fiesty, was starting to become more and more awkward to anyone who wasn't southern California.

"We should probably move Wis- er, Ethan, so he can get better quickly." It was England who spoke. America nodded dumbly and moved to pick up his state, but was almost shouldered out of the way by California. England grabbed the state's collar and jerked him away with one quick movement. "No. America and I know how to deal with this type of wound much better than you do."

"But-!" California tried to protest, but one poisoned glare from England shut him up. Florida tugged on his sleeve roughly, dragging the state after England and America and muttering something about a hero complex originating in Hollywood. Massachusetts and Iowa followed mutely. That is, until Massachusetts decided to speak up.

"America, England, I can transport everyone to a destination if we need to." England paused, thinking over her words as America protested meekly, pride wounded from the earlier exchange.

"But… you haven't done a group this big before?" His statement lilted up by the end making it sound more like a question. She nodded uncertainly and a flicker of relief crossed his face.

"Well, no, but I need to try, right?" She nodded to herself, a flash of determination crossing her features. England nodded on her in respect and stepped closer, gesturing the two coastal states and single landlocked state over with his head. America was already close enough to Massachusetts.

"I would recommend America's house, you know there best." England recommended. She nodded.

"Here goes nothing…" she murmured, furrowing her eyebrows in concentrated resolve, a small sheen of sweat starting to show on her brow after a few seconds of nothing. Then, as if psyching herself up for something, she closed her eyes tight and clenched her fists. Instantly the group was transported to another location.

Instead of America's house, like most of those present had assumed, Massachusetts had sent them to the National House of States, where all of the State meetings were held (much like the world meetings, just with less culture and more guns). They were in the foyer, and Massachusetts gasped for breath; she wasn't transporting anything any time soon.

America, however, had not been in the National House of States for decades. As the country, he wasn't needed there. Which, in hindsight, didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. He hesitated the moment they appeared. England had never been here and therefore had no idea what to do, while Florida and California were in the middle of another argument - "It's not _my_ fault you're so stupid!" - and were no help at all.

Iowa, however, beelined for the hallway with a gilded gold sign that had _Midwest_ scrawled in cursive. There were various hallways leading to other sections of the building: _Northeast, South, West,_ and _Meeting Room_ were among the titles. Iowa was already halfway across the foyer when they glanced behind them and saw the countries and states alike standing dumbly. An almost uncharacteristic scowl crossed their face and they called to the states.

"Are y'all stupid? We have a state meeting in two days. Why do you think Wisconsin had such a hard time getting ahold of everyone? The entirety of the Midwest were probably on a road trip, and there's _no_ service on the way here. Or here, for that matter," Iowa mused for a split second before getting back on track. "But by now they should be here, and they should know- and they also have some of the best hospitals."

Florida and California turned bright red; they had both forgotten about the state meeting and most likely would have been dragged there by Georgia and Northern California respectively. Massachusetts had been aware of the meeting, obviously, as she had landed them there. England was muttering about the smaller letters under the _Northeast_ sign spelling out _New England_ and America was taking long strides towards the hallway titled _Midwest_.

"Where are we?" England asked, examining the secretary desk that was empty. A smile flickered across both Florida and California's faces.

"It's a national secret~" Florida winked and strode past the old country.

"We don't tell _anyone_ ," California said airily, following Florida's path.

"Oh, shut up! You wouldn't be able to find your way here with a map!" Massachusetts snapped, stalking after them. "Your brother drags you here every meeting!" England found himself needing to scramble after the hurried states, distantly hearing "Sister!" from one of the states.

"It's been a while since I've been to this part of the building," Massachusetts mused, examining the walls and door decor. The walls were a washed sky blue with a wooden fence-like decoration protruding an inch from the plaster. The first doors they passed were offices and meeting rooms (Iowa winced when they heard a bay from behind one of them- the Midwest did not use their offices for normal purposes).

They had only been walking for a dozen paces when the hallway expanded into a small lobby with plush carpets and large windows. There were papasan chairs and beanbags strewn about with tables of games and snacks laid out. There were no states present but it was recently used.

Florida let out a low whistle. "Damn. This place is nice."

California furrowed their brow in annoyance. "Why is theirs so much cooler than our break room?"

Massachusetts snickered. Not only was the Midwest's breakroom different (they had two rooms for the entire Midwest, while there were separate break rooms for the splits in the Northeast, South, and West, such as New England and Mid Atlantic for Northeast, as the others did not like to share) but she had been in every part of the building for various reasons and the Midwest did have one of the better break rooms. But not because they were better than the other groups, no, it was merely because they had managed not to trash it day one. The South, for example (South West, to be specific) have an eternal grease stain on the ceiling (all Oklahoma's fault, according to everyone there). In the Northeast (Mid Atlantic specifically) room a knife was thrown clean through a table (really, New Jersey needed to calm down). And then there was the West, of course, nobody knew what happened in there, especially on the Pacific (Oregon and Washington seemed sort of normal, but then there was the two personifications of California).

Regardless, despite the expertly hidden bullet holes, the Midwest had a decent (large) lobby. There was even a functional Keurig and a flat screen TV (that wasn't broken, surprisingly).

Illinois came sauntering into the room from the continued hallway, an apple in his mouth as he hummed along to an inaudible song. He was counting through postcards in his hands when he looked up. His eyes widened dramatically and the apple fell out of his mouth at the sight of the states and country alike.

"A-America? Massachusetts, Iowa? And is that-" his voice instantly dripped with disgust. "California."

"Southern California, actually," California corrected. Illinois sneered until his gaze dropped to the state dangling in his country's arms.

"Wisconsin! Oh my god, what the hell happened to you!" The corn state was by his brother's side in an instant, cradling his lolling head in his hands. His eyes dropped to Wisconsin's stomach, glazing over the burn scars, and he examined Wisconsin's sides, which was bandaged up with red seeping through. His eyes narrowed and he glared up at the surrounding personifications.

"What. Happened." He was seething, face twitching. He was Illinois, and he made up his people. Including the gangs of Chicago.

"Well…" America winced. "A lot."

"And are you… England?" Illinois raised his eyebrow at the rather short personification.

England straightened. "Yes, I am."

Illinois stared at him for a long, uncomfortable stretch of time. England stared back, wondering what this state was going to say to him. Hate? Admiration? Indifference?

"Stay away from the New England states. It's for your own health."

And with that, Illinois gathered Wisconsin into his arms -away from America, though the country still hovered over him- and disappeared into the hallway.

"That's settled." California said cheerily. Florida sent a glance his way; he was one of the few states who could tell when California was being genuine or not. For now, he had his Hollywood persona on. In other words: fake.

"Hey, now's our chance to trash the place." California snickered, sweeping his eyes over the cushion heaven that was the (first, but they didn't have to know that) Midwest lobby.

"Honestly, I wouldn't do that," Iowa commented. At the contemptuous raised eyebrow thrown their way, the farming state silently walked to a random couch and reached under it, pulling out a hunting gun. "This is one of many."

Florida chortled to himself while California laughed highly. "That's not loaded." California grinned at the smaller state.

Iowa cocked the gun, the loud noise echoing through the room. "Is it?"

-x-

Illinois strode to the second lobby, the one only a set few got to see (namely the actual Midwestern states). He could hear two sets of footprints behind him but he had little care on who they belonged to, opting to stay focused on his brother, who was shot after disappearing from his house.

Foolishly they had thought he was only leaving early for the meeting. Imagine their surprise when they arrived at the National House of States to find that the dairy state was nowhere to be found. However, they had not been expecting to see him unconscious. With a bullet wound.

Illinois shook his head. Ethan had been wounded before, and much worse; the only difference was that his family wasn't there this time. Illinois didn't count America in this subconscious assessment, dubbing him too distant to be called family.

He had learned long ago to only trust those who truly cared.

* * *

 **Hur dur I want to kill myself x.x this was not needed but my brain just went "oh, it's not obvious enough that America doesn't really care so you should add a gun wound to make it worse" /shot/ (ohmygod PUNS)**

 **On a different note, the National House of States has four sections: East, South, Midwest, and West. Each section is split into different subgroups (ex Pacific and Mountains are subgroups of West). Each subgroup has its own "lobby" or "breakroom" but the Midwest just shares theirs equally, which created the Main Group of Wisconsin's friends, otherwise Minnesota would not be in the group. (basically my excuse to have Minnesota have a close relationship to Wisconsin haha)**

 **Moving on to reviews! Wowee, I was not expecting these! Thank you all so much :D :***

 **deadlydaisy808** **: Woo I hoped you liked this update :D sort of a mixture of randomness eh. And I didn't really know about it until looking up headcanons for Wisconsin OC's and the opportunity for angst is real. Also Peshtigo was one of three? others that happened on that day, though Peshtigo was def the worst and Chicago was the most popular. Also thank you for your contributions and Massachusetts is actually really fun to write TwT**

 **SonoSvegliato : I legit went from smiling ear-to-ear to busting a gut laughing. I've never had straight up cheese soup (I'm certain it's a thing) though I have cheese with soup but it usually ends up being half the soup anyway. (why I'm caught up in the cheese soup thing idk). And yes. Broken relationships are on the mend (hopefully owo). hunting Ethan is the best Ethan and I LOOKED UP TURTLE MAN THIS IS CULTURE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL. and thanks for the reviews and helpful hints on Kentucky, he'll make an appearance soon :D**

 **Fonix Girl** **: I. Wow. I don't even know where to start. Other than with THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHHH YOU REVIEWED A LOT! Okay here starts my long af response #noregrets. love Michigan, it's gorgeous there (fun fact i've only been to the Upper Pen.), also countries don't question things when there's beer on the line. Hungary is so chill and the family relations I just. I don't ship Pruhun but their siblingship gives me life :'). Monaco I've formed from fanfics but I think she's in the comic and is one of France's former colonies. Belarus just kinda shows up and so does China XD and honestly the voicemails were so fun to make I had to have them all be different and it shows their personalities so much I just :D (Ethan accepts your hug). Yeaahhhh he's afraid of fire and just _wait_ until his Midwest fam finds out what England did. ;). Oooooh. oooooooo shoot I really like your idea but it might be too late to incorporate a little Upper Michigan x.x and I have headcanons already too X(**

 **I JUST GOT AN IDEA NVM. And if any of y'all stuck to the end of this long af (as always) A/N, congrats. I won't be updating as fast (RIP I have responsibilities) but I hope I can get a chapter out before three weeks. Au revoir readers and thanks for reading :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yikes. I really wanted to get this out so I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I will fix them (eventually)**

 **And who's ready for some good-ol' reconciliation? ;)**

 **(also this may or may not be the last... official... chapter... haha)**

* * *

Ethan felt like he was waking up from the worst hangover ever. Well, if a hangover gave you an aching pain in your side and the worry of all of your friends- oh wait.

He let out an involuntary groan and internally berated himself for it. He felt like death and wanted to act the part, why did his body have to proclaim to the world that _hey, weak little state is conscious! Come aggravate him!_

A small part of him wondered if he really _wasn't_ drunk, based on his dry humored thoughts.

"Ethan?" Ethan's first reaction was annoyance -looked like he couldn't pretend to be asleep after all- but his second was shock. He shot open his eyes and sat up abruptly, feeling something tear but (almost) ignoring the new wave of pain wash through his body. He blinked emotionally at the scene before him.

All of the Midwest was there. Even Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and the Dakotas were present, playing what looked like a twist on rummy in the corner. Iowa sat near the back next to Indiana, appearing to have stopped a conversation with the personification after seeing Ethan's change in consciousness, and Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio surrounded his bed.

"Oh man, how did you get kidnapped?'

"Are you okay? Lie down, don't tear the stitches!"

"Duuude, did you really meet the countries? What are they like?"

"Uh…" Ethan blinked at the barrage of questions, his brothers assaulting him with words. "Yes?"

Illinois shot him a scathing look. "If you don't lie down _now_ I will recite, word for word, when the Bears beat the Packers."

Ethan's eyes widened. "The entire game?"

Illinois leaned towards him, face solemn. "All of them."

Ethan flopped back onto the bed instantly and Minnesota snorted. Michigan leaned on the edge of the nightstand, whistling lowly. "Where did you go?"

All of the states in the room were staring at him, the same question written on their faces. Ethan flushed but opened his mouth to explain.

"After I got home, I heard a noise and went to investigate -shut up Dylan it wasn't like a horror movie- and Mexico must have chloroformed me. I woke up surrounded by countries, and got invited drinking, well, sortof -who? Oh, Prussia, Denmark, Germany, and England and France were there too- and then Prussia stole my glasses -no, I have no idea where they are now… yes, I know it's Milwaukee, shut up!- so then I was at his house after I chased him down. Then Germany, Austria, and Hungary were there -Germany? He was cool, I guess, didn't really talk to him- and they were interesting. Hungary showed me to the guest room and cleaned my clothes -Michael don't even start, she will smash you with her frying pan- and I woke up to the sound of gunshots. Turns out it was Switzerland and… ah, Lichtenstein? Switzerland was shooting at someone -shut up Mitchell it doesn't matter if I climbed out my window- and then America was there! And then he got tackled by Spain, and then Prussia was there and they held down America - _I don't care if we're a superpower he was held down_ \- and France took me to his house." Ethan started coughing and took a deep breath. The states were enamored with his tale, despite being condensed, and Michigan -Michael- handed him a glass of water. He took it gratefully and continued.

"Monaco wanted to gamble so I drank her down - stop cheering, Dylan - and suddenly these other countries were there? I think they're England's brothers, I dunno. I chose then to escape and them and France followed me, then I found Russia - yes, _the_ Russia, Alaska's friend - and the other countries stopped. Russia has two sisters and they took me to his house, and then, er…" Ethan broke off awkwardly, not wanting to explain his breakdown. "Um, I called you guys but you didn't answer, so I sort of… called… Southern California…" He waited, wincing.

The outcries of annoyance and irritation were instantaneous. After half a minute of listening to the states ranting his scowled.

"Come on, why didn't you call me? Or Cassie?" Allison -South Dakota, Cassie being North Dakota- asked incredulously. A few other states expressed the same and Michael -Michigan- laughed, patting Ethan awkwardly on the shoulder and saying he should take their advice.

"Shut up, Michael. It's your fault I didn't have their number anyways." Michael blinked, confusion crossing his face. Ethan elaborated, "You ran over my phone, remember? I only had you, Mitchell, Dylan, Liam and Eric's because you _know_ Southern California has an obsession with having everyone's number and everyone having his number."

"Oh." Michael screwed up his face. "Sorry man- ow!" He rubbed his shoulder, shooting a nasty look at Veronica (Indiana), who glared back with just as much fire. Eventually Michael -Michigan- backed down, as nobody was a match for Indiana when she was protecting something. Or ever, really. Nobody knew but the Midwest but Veronica could be _scary_.

"Keep going," Dylan -Ohio- prodded.

"Well, I thought nobody was coming but then California and Florida were there and so was Iowa and Massachusetts -yeah, you guys suck at being brothers, Iowa is my favorite now- and England showed up? So we went to this room, and England was talking smack with Massachusetts, and-" Ethan blanched at the memory. Iowa fidgeted, images from the room flashing through his mind. Liam -Minnesota- peered at Ethan who was steadily shrinking further into the pillows.

Mitchell (Illinois) narrowed his eyes, trying to remember why he recognized the behavior when it struck him like a bullet. His eyes instantly widened with realization then narrowed with contained anger. "Ethan, he didn't use fire, did he?"

"Um."

Mitchell stood up abruptly, rage seeping from his pores. "Continue the story without me." He spun on his heel and marched out of the room, ignoring Ethan's protests. Liam pushed Ethan back into the bed wordlessly, unwilling to stop Mitchell's rampage but also not wanting to abandon his wounded brother. Nebraska, Missouri, and the Dakotas were a little confused but Iowa was filling them in. Indiana appeared to be struggling on whether or not she wanted to join Mitchell before caving and standing up too. Ethan paled at the sight of her anger and went silent as she stalked out of the room as well.

Mitchell stomped down the hallway, through the break rooms and into the main lobby. It was deserted, which meant everyone was in the meeting room. The door slammed open and the states inside startled at the sight of the enraged Midwestern state. Illinois ignored everyone else and beelined for England, who noticed the state too late. Mitchell stormed towards him and reeled his hand back, socking the country across the face with a satisfying _crunch_. He brought his arm back to go at the country again but found himself held back by states that had stood up at the obvious anger in Illinois's eyes.

"Calm down!" Kentucky said, pulling the state back.

"Really, mate, I love a good fight but is this necessary?" Louisiana continued.

England had taken a few steps back in recoil but otherwise didn't seem very affected. In fact, he had been almost expecting it, and he set his nose back in place unflinchingly with a sickening _snap_.

Illinois heaved his breaths, the adrenaline still running through his veins. He shook off both Kentucky and Louisiana but stepped back, rage smoldering behind his eyes. Indiana showed up behind him with a murderous expression on her face. While she didn't attack England physically she didn't rein in her tongue.

"You're an asshole," she spat. England nodded sagely to himself but blinked when he was no longer the direction of attention. "And _you_ ," she continued venomously at America. "Forgot about Peshtigo."

"Everyone remembers the Chicago fire," Mitchell piped up. The other states in the meeting room fell into a solemn silence. "But nobody remembers Peshtigo. Ethan directed you to me, didn't he?" It wasn't a question. "And he gained all those scars in the process and nobody remembers, dammit!"

"Can I see him?" America murmured the question, avoiding eye contact with his states in a strange shift of character. Illinois opened his mouth to shut him down but Indian slammed her hand over his mouth and said "If he allows it." Illinois crossed his arms but said nothing.

"I'll ask 'im!" Kentucky offered. Mississippi punched him in the shoulder and slammed him back into his seat all at once and said, "You're not aloud in the Midwest sick bay." Kentucky grumbled and rubbed his arm, shooting Mississippi a begrudging look. She ignored him.

"Will he allow it?" America directed the question at Indiana and Illinois. Veronica gave Mitchell an expected look at he sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, Ethan would probably love to see you. I'll evacuate the rest." Mitchell stalked off to herd off the other Midwestern states. A few seconds passed in awkward silence in the meeting room.

"I should be getting back…" England muttered, mostly to himself. Massachusetts stepped up, a hesitant expression flashing on her face. She steeled herself and approached England.

"I know you're better at magic, but can I help you get home?" She prepared herself for rejection from the sharp-tongued country.

England gaped at her in surprise but recovered quickly. "Of course. Strictly speaking, teleportation has never been my strong suit. I gladly welcome the help." She brightened. England leaned in closer, making sure only she heard what he said next. "And it is always a pleasure to meet another mage. Would you mind if I showed you around England some time?"

She looked like she was about to faint from astonished excitement but nodded rapidly, leaving the Eastern states wondering what the nation could have said to reduce Massachusetts to such a raw state. He leaned away in satisfaction and prepared himself for teleporting. Massachusetts rushed to help in any way she could.

Indiana decided they had waited long enough for Illinois to remove the other Midwestern states from the sick bay (most likely by issuing a gun contest) and started leading America out of the meeting room silently. He followed without a sound and the meeting room was less one country. Seconds later England popped out of existence and Massachusetts was an exhausted mess from the strain but had a triumphant grin on her face. The Eastern states instantly swarmed her.

"Well this is excitin', ain't it?" Kentucky drawled. Tennessee snickered on his left.

-x-

"Ethan… don't trust him, okay? He's thrown all of us under the bus at some point," Mitchell pleaded.

Ethan scrunched up his eyes in defense. "He didn't know he was doing it, though!"

"That's no excuse! And if you don't look at him like a country, then look at him like a brother! He hasn't even visited the Midwest since, when? The most recent election?" Mitchell waved his arms around for emphasis. "And that was for politics, not recreation!"

"He doesn't have time-"

"Like hell he doesn't," Mitchell interrupted savagely. Ethan fell silent, his heart turning in two different directions. The Prairie state softened and decided to approach this differently. "Ethan, did he miss you?"

He opened his mouth to fire back a quick _Yes, of course he did!_ when a few thoughts struck him.

" _Man, was I pissed when I found out that she had taken one of my own states!"_

" _Yo it's Alfred F. Jones, the hero of the world! I'm off doing heroic deeds and such, so-"_

"I… ah," Ethan cleared his throat and recited something he had been repeated to himself like a mantra: "I sure hope so."

Mitchell opened his mouth to continue when Veronica popped her head in. "Mitchell, you better not be doing what I think you're doing," the Hoosier warned. Mitchell grinned weakly and started walking away from the bed. He paused for a split second and glanced back at his younger brother before stalking out the door. Indiana watched him go and flashed a reassuring grin his way before disappearing behind the door as well.

Ethan blinked at the empty room for a few seconds, reveling in the silence. Then the door opened again, slowly, to show the sheepish face of his founder. Ethan stopped his face from lighting up; as Illinois said, America was in the wrong. It didn't stop the excitement from being noticed, though. Only dampered it with reality.

"Hi, Ethan…" America paused to let the dairy state rebuke him for having the audacity of using his personal name, but Ethan stayed silent and America continued. "I don't know what to say other than that I'm sorry…"

America pondered to himself and Ethan realized this was the third time he had talked one-on-one with America. For some reason he wasn't as joyous as he thought he would be.

"Okay, Wi-Ethan," America started on a much stronger note than before, "I've been an awful brother and for that I'm sorry. My god, you have no idea how guilty that makes me, being the very thing I wanted never to be, absent, like Eng-" he stopped himself and took a deep breath, starting over. "I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you, and the other states, because without you all, I wouldn't be the best country in the world. Hell, I wouldn't be a country. The United States of America is nothing without his states."

America stopped there. Ethan took this all in with a blank, innocent expression on his face, and he furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he thought over his country's words.

"Most of us are pretty independent," Ethan started hesitantly, not sure where he was going with this. "We understand, to a point I guess, what you're struggling with. You just… need to show us that you care, everyone once in awhile, ya know? Mitchell- Illinois has completely lost hope with you and I don't know what to do about it. I just- what happened to the days when you would go huntin' with us once? Just- just real quick and fun football game? Yer so busy with the- with country things that we… well, we miss you." He had delved heavily into his accent and started stuttering halfway through, but he said what he set out to say.

The silence was suffocating and Ethan started fidgeting and opened his mouth- something that turned out to be a mistake, since he started nervously babbling.

"D-Did I tell you about what happened after you, uh, missed me? Haha it's a funny story France took me to his house and did you know he smells like flowers it's kinda weird but y'know and then I told him how he made my name but then he kinda just… put me under yer name but eh. Then this girl was there she said her name was Monacco and she was pretty but also scary like Nevada they should never meet Nevada is scary did you know they gambled me out of cheese once it was a dark day but anyway she tried to get me to gamble and so I just challenged her to a drinking contest, did you know she can't hold her alcohol? Yeah and then-" he was cut off abruptly by America trapping him in a hug, his broad shoulders wrapping around the smaller state's frame tightly.

"America-?"

"When did it become America and not Alfred, Ethan?" he murmured, almost tightening his grip. "Oh god, I missed you guys so much."

Tears filled Ethan's eyes and he returned the hug with just as much vigor, ignoring the strain he was putting on his stitches in his stomach. Alfred seemed to remember his gun wound at the same time as Ethan did and he drew back, placing his hands on his state's shoulders. Alfred's eyes were slightly red and he hid a sniff, smiling at Ethan with watery eyes.

"Tell ya what. Once you get better -and don't you dare try to trick me, I know exactly how long this will take to heal- we'll go do whatever you want, short of murder."

Ethan brightened. "Okay!"

Alfred grinned and pulled him into a much gentler hug, carefully avoiding stretching or breaking his stitches. Eventually the country pulled away and plopped himself at the foot of the bed. "Okay, now tell me _everything._ "

And so that's what Ethan did.

-x-

Meanwhile, it was chaos among the nations. For some reason Belarus and Russia had taken a liking to Ethan, which caused Prussia to challenge them in a weird sibling-ship competition, and of course France had to join (he named the kid!), which created a weird, three-way war that had nations siding. Honestly, these personifications needed to get better hobbies.

"I know him best!" Prussia boasted.

"Yes, but I know Alaska," Russia said. "And so I know states better. Is this where the Western countries say ha?"

"He went to me for comfort!" Belarus snapped.

"Oui, but I named him!" France interjected.

"Yeah yeah, but he asked me to visit him!" Prussia said loudly. The other three countries froze and narrowed their eyes at the germanic nation.

"He _what._ " Belarus growled, voicing the three's mutual thoughts. Not realizing the danger he was currently in, Prussia continued.

"Yeah! And I think I'm going to visit him now!" Prussia made true to this statement and started walking away when he was suddenly tackled to the floor. "Wha-? Francis, get off of me!"

"Désolé, mon ami, but there are no friends in war!" France scrambled off the albino and made for the door. "I think I'll cash that visit in for myself!"

"Nyet!" Russia grabbed France by the back of his shirt- really, it was good he missed, he was aiming for the neck- "I will go to America."

"Big brother, that is where you're wrong," Belarus said, probably the only times the surrounding countries heard her say something against Russia (they sometimes blew her out of proportion… it was only occasionally that she grew crazy with marrying her brother, it's just that always happened when around other nations). "I will visit mini."

A few nations blanched at the thought of Belarus rampaging through America, since they didn't know _where_ the state was, and they only joined this faux-war for fun, and they really didn't want a world superpower getting mad at Belarus right now.

"No! He asked _me!_ " Prussia insisted, narrowly avoiding Russia's pipe. "West, back me up!"

Germany backed away with his arms raised. "Nein, I'll sit this one out."

"Honhon, even your flesh and blood don't want to help you," France said snidely.

Prussia narrowed his eyes at Germany from underneath Russia, who was sitting on his back contently holding off France and Belarus (mostly France though), and whispered not-so-quietly, "Traitor."

"Ve… I never even met him…" Italy said sadly. From all the fuss the other countries were making this boy must have been really great.

"He's great! About ye high, runs faster than the wind-" Scotland snickered from behind a table (it wasn't shameful to be taking precautions; nearly every nation had some sort of shield from the four destruction nations having a war in the front of the room).

"Can drink like nothing else-" Denmark added on.

"He's German-!" Prussia tried to interject.

"Likes guns," Switzerland stated monotonously. The other nations stared at him and he stared right back, unfazed by the attention he was suddenly receiving. Well, to anybody else he was unfazed. Liechtenstein could see the slightest tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"Yeah! He's really kind, and him and big brother seemed to hit it off!" she proclaimed, unaware of what she just said. Switzerland stiffened.

"Hm?" Russia cocked his head to the side. "You as well?"

"More competition," Belarus snarled.

"This only makes it more interesting," France said with an aloof tone. Switzerland groaned out loud.

"Do you know where he is?" Spain asked innocently, attempting to drape himself across Romano, who smacked him so hard he fell to the floor. Unperturbed he popped back up and plopped himself on Romano's lap, causing the italian to turn bright red.

"Of course we do!" France exclaimed indignantly.

"Ja, Toni, it's like you don't even know us!" Prussia scoffed.

Russia bore his cold gaze into Spain's, who wasn't looking in that direction anyway. "The small is in America, of course."

"But…" This time it was Italy that spoke up. "Where in America?"

The dead silence that met his question answered it just fine, and countries in the midst of WWIII exchanged glances. It was almost awkward, the room had gotten so quiet.

A puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room and there stood England, who looked startled to find so many countries in the meeting room, since the meetings were over. Prussia, seeing his chance, glomped England and muttered something to him, causing the country to go red and gain an infuriated expression at the same time, though the blush was obviously not from embarrassment.

"Even if I could, I would not. But I am unable to teleport for another 24 hours, unfortunately," England said scathingly, sounding anything but distressed. Prussia glared at the former empire through red eyes, threat showing. England rolled his eyes and pushed the dissolved nation off of him. "Before you protest, I truly cannot use that specific type of magic for 24 hours. Teleportation has never been my specialty, regardless."

Someone popped up behind Prussia with a teasing smirk plastered on their face. England's gaze grew murderous at the sight of the nation, who clapped Prussia on the shoulder and declared, "S'okay mate, all brows' get the ability of magic!"

"Australia," England ground out. "I am telling you right now-"

"Ay, we can help ya too," Scotland snarked out, always one to jump on the annoy-England train. Wales and Northern Ireland quickly entered their approval, Ireland right behind their affirmations. England groaned aloud.

"Please, do not encourage him-"

Scotland shut his brother up by slapping him harder than necessary on the shoulder. "I assume ye remember how to transfer?" the redhead directed this question at Australia, as he knew his siblings remembered; he had taught them long ago.

"'Course!" Australia said quickly, slipping behind England to get into position. The shortest Kirkland protested again but he was ignored as the others pressed their palms to his shoulders. A soft light glowed under each palm, every color different per person. Prussia was elated and France, Russia, and Belarus tried to get in on this only to be held back by a barrier.

Russia shot a dark glare in the direction of the spellcaster but Ireland smiled impishly, her vibrant red hair settled softly around her shoulders. Her whole being glowed a pale violet and the barrier reflected the color in a mirror-like fashion.

"Too bad we don't know where the National House of States is," Wales mused. "Otherwise we could have gone, too."

"Like hell you're going to there," England snapped, shaking off the no-longer-glowing hands swiftly. He grabbed on to Prussia's upper arm unwillingly and scowled at the group still standing. All of his siblings and his former colony had matching smirks, which forced his scowl deeper as the two nations disappeared from the room.

-x-

Ethan sighed in contentment. While America- no, Alfred, while Alfred was catching up with the other states, he was revelling in being alone. Already it had been an hour of pure bliss and quiet. He was even able to read a bit!

The dairy state gazed at the ceiling, thinking about nothing in particular. He knew that a few of his siblings would disapprove of his quickly-trusting nature, but he knew that spending time with the other states would straighten out any spur-of-the-moment lies the country had spouted to console the state. If there were any spur-of-the-moment lies, anyway. Ethan sure hoped there weren't.

He let out a deep sigh and he heard it. The silence was so thorough that he could hear his own breath and the rustle of the sheets under his skin. The calm was so present that he could close his eyes and feel completely relaxed without needing to fall unconscious.

The door crashed open and so did his eyes at the sudden sound, landing on someone he thought he wouldn't see for a long time. They widened their eyes at the sight of Ethan and rushed forwards only to pitch forward onto their face. The nation scrambled to their feet and launched themselves onto the bed. Expecting this, Ethan curled into himself to prevent his stitches from falling out. He healed fast, sure, but it was still twice as slow as the nations.

"Wisconsin!" Prussia yelled, wrapping his arms around the state both desperately and exuberantly. "Save me from your crazy bros!"

"Wha-?" Ethan sputtered before Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois (Michael, Liam, and Mitchell) barrel through the door. They erupted into argument, obviously unwilling to enact a physical fight on Prussia while the country was attached to their brother.

"Get off of him!"

"Oi, where did you come from, anyway?

"And what do you want with our brother?!"

"Wisconsin~" Prussia stretched the word obnoxiously. "Don't make me leave, after I forced England to get me here!"

"I…" Ethan faltered.

"He just appeared in the middle of the meeting room with England!" Liam -Minnesota- blurted.

Michael hid a grin as he added, "Then he yelled for you and sprinted out of the room."

"Of course, we had to follow him! We have no idea who he is!" Mitchell -Illinois- finished.

Ethan opened and closed his mouth. It had been _so quiet._

Then he stared laughing. Loud, wholesome laughter that filled the room. Prussia grinned, not letting go of the state even for him to bend over laughing in bed. His brothers bickered a bit amongst themselves but Michael was already laughing along. Liam and Mitchell followed and soon the room was full of the joyous sound.

Yes, it had been quiet before. But Ethan much preferred being surrounded by his loud friends and family than the dull silence.

* * *

 **Wow, I think I finished it. Of Nations and Cheese actually has an _ending._ Guys, this is a big deal for me- I've never finished a story before. Hetalia has done things to me no other fandom succeeded in doing. **

**Few notes: Lots of states and not enough, obviously didn't get many in here- I'm thinking about making side-chapters featuring a few states I wanted to add in (such as Northern California, who had a lot of mentions but no appearances, now that I think about it. Also Kentucky). THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE! fyi. :D not leaving my bby Ethan quite yet!**

 **THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR REVIEWING! IT IS BECAUSE OF YOU I CONTINUED THIS, otherwise I would have run out of steam pretty fast.**

 **SonoSvegliato** **: I don't know what's going on but I like it XD *headbanging* what are we dancing to XD?**

 **MisfitMadhatter : Yayyy Wisconsin's all happy now :D hope you liked the update!**

 **deadlydaisy808** **: Oh man, you're so nice T^T thank you for reviewing on... pretty much every chapter, I think. Super consistent and really helpful! Hope you didn't think it was too fast... I tend to finish things a bit quickly... so that's why I made the epilogue (oh no, America isn't getting off as easy with Florida/Cali/Midwestern bros). On the metaphor thing, that's really a lot deeper than I intented but that's really cool and now that I think about it, it works! Lol not anymore I guess with reconciliation tho XD**

 **Thank you all for reading and reviewing, and until next time, which will not be as soon, since I have nothing written XD.**


	7. Epilogue

**In hindsight this was a bad idea, but Illinois=Mitchell. Mitchell looks like Michigan so that might be where confusion happens... sorry XD**

 **And hey! Short AF epilogue that took way too long to get out... there's more A/N than story I'M SORRY T^T**

* * *

Ethan let out a screech as he was thrown over a shoulder. He thumped against a broad back harshly and he hung limply with a piece of fabric clutched tightly in his hands.

"Oi!" Mitchell skidded to a stop and scrambled after him. "You got it! GUYS! HE GOT-!"

Prussia cut him off by smashing into him and they went head over heels into the underbrush. Ethan heard a soft "Shuddup, _Illi-noise_." There was an exclamation of anger and a scuffle broke out in the bushes. Ethan laughed boisterously and so did Alfred, who continued to sprint through the forest with Ethan on his back.

"Good job, bro!" Alfred shouted up to him, his grin showing through his voice. Ethan clenched his fists tighter and beamed, the cloth pressing softly into his palms. Alfred leaped over a frozen stream and he smashed his chin into the country's back, letting out a startled yelp as pain shot through his teeth. Alfred poked him in the calf and asked if he was okay without slowing down, and Ethan mumbled an affirmative as he glared at the muscle-bound back of his founder. At least it was winter to soften the blow a bit.

Suddenly Alfred stopped in his tracks, jostling Ethan further. When Ethan was about to smack him on the head and ask him -politely, of course- to _stop that_ , he heard an unwelcome voice.

"Alfred. Is that our flag?"

Alfred casually set Ethan down and leaned on his shoulder nonchalantly. Ethan blinked at the country-state pair standing before him.

"'Course not," Alfred said. Massachusetts narrowed her eyes and zeroed in on the piece of cloth clenched in Ethan's hands. Of course, the boundary line was right behind the two mages. England raised a single horrendous eyebrow at the two american's in front of him.

"It seems we're at an impasse." England sniffed, crossing his arms. He didn't stray his gaze from the two.

Massachusetts's eyes glittered mischievously. "Yes, but one side has the advantage."

"That would be us, _traitor_ ," Alfred mocked her, shaking Ethan's shoulder for emphasis. "Think, Ethan. What does America have that England doesn't?"

Ethan narrowed his eyes for a few moments, deep in thought.

"America, you seem you have forgotten that we have the edge. Magic tops whatever your miniscule brain can come up with," England scoffed at his former colony. Alfred was unaffected and waited for the lightbulb to go off in Ethan's mind.

Suddenly the state's face lit up with an "oh!" and he grinned slyly, obscurely handing the cloth off to Alfred. England squinted, trying to figure out what was going on. Massachusetts worried her lip in thought when she hit her moment of realization a second too late.

"Hike!" Alfred modified the usual under-the-legs throw for passing it off sideways. Ethan snagged the bundled up cloth and sprinted forwards, barrelling into England (who he knew would not be suspecting anything of the sort) who let out an undignified squawk and stumbled backwards, flailing for a hold. The nation's instincts kicked in and he snagged Ethan's hood, causing the two to tumble head-over-heels to the forest floor.

Ethan stuck his hand in the air, cloth waving slightly. America shot by and picked up the flag from his state, sprinting over the boundary line with a shout of victory.

England huffed as he stood, wiping the dirt and leaves off of his pants. Ethan jumped to his feet, eyes bright with energy and exhilaration. America jumped over to him, just as much energy in his bounds, and they gave each other violent high-fives.

Massachusetts rolled her eyes and hid a smile, slinging an arm around Connecticut and ignored their inquiries on why she hadn't helped her teammate. Since, of course, she was home to the Patriots (who had won the last Super Bowl, no less).

"VICTORY FOR THE AMERICANS!" Alfred hollered into the woods. The rest of their teammates emerged from the treeline.

"Oi, look at who's on your team first!" Prussia interjected hotly.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I only count those that _matter_." England hid a snort and Ethan pressed his lips together to suppress a growing grin. Prussia's mouth dropped open.

"Chubs, you did _not_ just go there."

" _Chubs?_ Who're you calling chubby?"

"You, stupid. Have you looked at yourself recently?"

"It is wintertime," said the unwelcome voice of Southern California (Ethan swore he would bury Erik in six feet of cheese one day).

"Huh?" Prussia turned to the tanned state smartly. Prussia himself wasn't partial to California, finding him to be competition for some reason. He was also jealous of the state's easy ability to tan, though nobody else knew that (except for anyone that knew the country on any personal level).

"It's winter. Don'tcha know that the north puts on a layer of fat to keep warm?" California snickered to himself and a wicked grin started stretching across Prussia's face.

Ethan huffed. "It's not our fault it gets cold!" Prussia's attention was diverted from almost-teasing Alfred to the dairy state.

"Wait-" Prussia held up his hands expressively. "You mean you get chubby in the winter?"

"I do not," Ethan mumbled, cheeks starting to turn pink. "It's an extra layer."

Prussia let out a very Hungary-like coo and bounded over to squish the state's reddening cheeks. "Well aren't you the cutest thing ever!"

"Stop molesting Ethan!" Alfred jumped Prussia from behind. The germanic country let out an oof and fought to get the american off of his back, twisting and cursing.

"So-"

"I still make better cheese than you," Ethan said instantly. Southern California pouted but Ethan payed no heed to him.

"Capture the flag in the snow is probably the best thing we've ever done," commented Michael- Michigan. He had been on the same team as Ethan and had been guarding their flag.

Ethan nodded in agreement and surveyed the chaos that was the aftermath. "Yeah, I think it was." He stared at all of his friends, family, and the occasional enemy, and grinned.

"Michael, you ever think about how if Mexico hadn't kidnapped me, we wouldn'ta met all of the other countries?" Ethan mused.

"Yeah, sure. Everything'd certainly be a lot different. I think you're the most well-known state now. Among nations, anyway."

"Really?" Ethan turned to his brother in surprise. He supposed it made sense, but it was still strange to think that he was better known than, say, New York or California.

"Yo! 'Sconsin!" Prussia yelled out, waving his hands around for good measure. "I still gotta try your brandy!"

A smile landed on Ethan's face and he started making his way over. "Don't be surprised when it knocks your socks off!"

"Is that a challenge, 'sconsin?"

"It is now, Snowflake!"

"Oh, you did _not-_ "

The two left with their back and forth bantering, leaving an amused Michigan to follow behind. He shook his head in disbelief. They were unbelievable. It was crazy to think what it might have been like without Prussia barging in, or Belarus crashing at Ethan's place, or Russia popping in with no warning, or Hungary dragging Austria to mother them, or France giving them dating advice, or America jealously locking up all of his state's houses…

Yeah, it was crazy to think what it might have been like without all of the nations.

* * *

 **How do end. urggg** **(also side note: YES ENGLAND HAS AMERICAN FOOTBALL BUT LET'S IGNORE THAT FOR THE STORY K)**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the main story is over (yeet) that means I'll be writing side-stories for the states/countries. If y'alls have any requests for a state/country interaction (with a few specifics, please) then review/pm me (preferably pm, since it's easier to discuss details there, but reviews work just fine). I have a few (three) ideas/requests already so I'll probs do those first. Thanks, y'all.**

 **Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story to the end! Y'all are awesome and deserve all the cookies/whatever ur fav food is because I don't discriminate. :D**

 **deadlydaisy808** **: ily so much you review on everything ty you have such nice wordsss. and oml I would love to hear about your Michigan/read your story that sounds lit. And my premise was that Wisconsin got kidnapped, he met countries, America got _majorly guilted_ and maybe someone gets shot. Then I started writing and thought about the story a lot and viola! Of Nations and Cheese was born. Basically think about your story a lot and hopefully something starts to develop (those lightbulb moments). or just look up plot points idk lol**

 **SonoSvegliato** **: Y DID U SCREAM KENTUCKY HAS LIKE TWO LINES. also you sound lowkey high when you review and I love it it's lit and I headbang w/ you (to the blue moon apparently). and you're welcome! (i guess) Wisconsin shot lots of ducks and he got two bucks this year (haha Minnesota only got one LOSER) and I hope you liked the epilogue~**

 **Guest** **: yikes I should change that... I tend to subconsciously filter out my accent so this happens XD Thank you! :DD**

 **Guest** **: I assume those 3's are hearts because fanfic. net sucks XD and the midwest is LIT but so is the south so you get to be both :D (also try not to die hyperventilating can be dangerous)**

 **blueraven1999** **: yayyy thank you! also I hate myself for not adding in cream puffs, which are the desserts of the gods. and that is an official request so i'm totally writing a small side story.**


	8. Side Stories: 1

**YOOO WHATTUP? I HAVE RETURNED /proceeds to disappear for months again/**

 **( I still need to write 90% of the requests so stand by, y'all. life is a rollercoaster. )**

* * *

Requested/Inspired by: Fonix Girl

"Get down here!" Mitchell snapped, arms preoccupied with holding firewood.

"No."

"It's already been half an hour, they'll be wondering where we went!"

"Nah."

"I swear to god Ethan, if you don't climb down in three seconds-"

"It's nice up here!"

"I could not care less, honestly."

"You, my football-less friend, are lame."

Mitchell's eyes flashed. "Ethan-"

"Okay, okay." Ethan laughed and swung down from the tree he had been camping. "But it's your loss." He reached down and gathered his dropped logs before following his brother, who was muttering under his breath.

Spring was a good season, Ethan decided. He loved fall and even winter, but normally he didn't enjoy the springtime, seeing as all of the roads were closed off at some point. The joke that Wisconsin had two seasons, winter and construction, was not just a joke.

Regardless, when he was taken away from roads and the city, he loved watching nature wake up. It was an unforgettable experience.

"Ethan, have you noticed anything strange about Michael recently?" Mitchell commented, adjusting his grip on his armful of wood. He noted with a tinge of annoyance that he would have a few splinters after this.

"Michael?" Ethan thought to himself. "No, not really. Has there been anything going on in Michigan?"

Mitchell shook his head. "Nothing too drastic, I don't think, since the Flint fiasco went viral. Seriously, think about it. Like when Dylan knocked Veronica's photo album over and we started talking about memories, didn't you notice the weird look he had on his face?"

"Uhh." Ethan twisted up his face contemplatively. "Maybe…"

"Or when North Dakota was being accused of having secrets and Liam swore that he never kept secrets from his siblings, and we all agreed?"

Ethan nodded then. "Yeah, and it looked like he had a bad pickle or something?"

"Right."

They trudged in silence for a dozen feet or so.

"So what should we do?" Ethan finally asked.

Mitchell mused for a few seconds. "We could confront him about it, or we could try to get him to slip up when he was drunk or force him to confess in truth or dare or something."

They exchanged a glance and seemed to agree instantly. "Drunk truth or dare."

-x-

Unfortunately, both Ethan and Mitchell forgot one particular detail: while playing drunk truth or dare, _everyone_ got drunk. They would drink straight up alcohol if need be (it rarely got that far, but they had borrowed some Russian vodka from the nation himself, which was close enough).

In short, Ethan woke up with a pounding headache and little to no memory of the night before. He was in a pile of Midwestern states, with Illinois -Mitchell- being half under him and Minnesota -Liam- leaning on him. Ohio -Dylan- was curled into a ball, cuddling with Michigan -Michael-, who was face down and draped over Illinois.

Ethan blinked a few more times and examined his brothers closer. Michael donned a cheesehead while Dylan had a large Bears jersey on. It fit the slight state like a dress, and he most likely only had boxers on underneath. Ethan himself was wearing Vikings sweatpants on top of his boxers, and that was it.

He yawned. It could have been worse. As long as nobody but his brothers saw him in these sweatpants, he was good. Ethan moved his arm out from under Liam's chest and flexed it, trying to bring feeling back into it. Liam barely moved from the shift.

Ethan stared at the ceiling. He really, really did not want to move. But he knew that the headache was not going to go away. So with a groan of annoyance, he disentangled himself and set to making a hangover cure. He ended up giving up and grabbing the container of advil and many bottles of water.

Ethan stumbled back into Michael's living room (that was where they had somehow ended up, even though they had started at Mitchell's house). Liam picked up his head, bleary-eyed, and Ethan chucked a water bottle at him. Liam just barely dodged it and it ended up smacking into Dylan's face.

Dylan moaned in annoyance and reached out to smack the first thing he came in contact with, which ended up being Michael's shoulder and neck. The chain reaction continued and soon enough the whole pile was stirring. Ethan ignored them and popped two Advil into his mouth, nearly forgetting to drink water and almost dry-swallowing the pills.

The doorbell rang and he paused, water bottle on his lips as he prepared to chug the rest of it. Who in the world would be at the door?

Actually, it could be many different countries based on one of the most powerful sources in the world: boredom. Maybe Belarus went to visit and found that he wasn't at home, so she went to every Midwestern state's home (god only knows how she discovered the location of every Midwestern state's home) to find him. He liked Belarus a lot, honest, but she could be a little… overbearing sometimes.

He had this elaborate thought process as he trudged towards the door, yawning again and scratching at his bare stomach. He ran his free hand through his hair, messing it even more so than it already was. He opened the door, blinking at the person across the threshold.

He stared. Whatever he was expecting, this was not it. Before him stood, against all odds, a girl.

The instant she saw him she started stuttering, a blush becoming prominent across her cheeks. Ethan was so surprised and caught off guard that he just stood there and stared. His hazy mind was not good for quick comprehension. Meanwhile, her face was growing darker as she tried to look anywhere but Ethan and he glanced down at himself to find out what was the problem. Oh. His scars were there bright as day. He was still shirtless. Was that why…?

He looked back up to her. She was slightly shorter than him and had long, slightly-frizzy brown hair. She was wearing a decorative camouflage headband. He didn't see why someone would wear a headband if it didn't hold your hair back. He supposed it did look nice, anyway, so that was probably the reason.

Oh, and she was saying something, but Ethan's woozy mind and headache that had not yet gone away was preventing him from comprehending her words.

Finally he shook his head. "Sorry… I'm sorta out of it… uh, who're you, and what're yeh doin' at Michael's house?"

She stumbled to a stop and gnawed at her lip. "U-uhm, he told me to… uh, to visit. D-did he tell y-you about… me co-coming?"

"Uh…" Ethan rubbed his face tiredly. "Dunno. I don't 'member anythin' that 'appened… last night."

She nervously played with the thin strap of her shoulder bag. Ethan sighed. "Wanna come in?" She nodded quickly and he turned around, leading her into the house. She carefully avoided looking at his chest but he barely noticed. He focused most of his attention on chugging that water bottle.

She fidgeted awkwardly until he finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and letting out a deep sigh. Now, of all times, he did not want company. "I wan' a bloody mary…" he mumbled to himself.

"U-uhm, where is my br-brother?" she asked timidly. Ethan's gaze shot to her, his eyes wide and suddenly attentive. She flushed again at the attention. "Er-"

"Brother?" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows and looked her up and down. "Brother?"

The girl- who was probably only two years or so younger than Ethan himself, so around fifteen, perhaps- fumbled with her words. He ignored her and stomped into the living room. She followed very hesitantly, peeking into the room before shooting her head back. The states were all in various states of disarray and every one lacked at least one clothing article.

"Michael, you've got some 'spaining to do!" Ethan pounded into the room, arms waving around haphazardly. "Th're's a girl at the door sayin' she's yer brotha! Get some clothes on, ya pigs!"

"Shut yer trap, Ethan, yer no better," Dylan mumbled. He was clinging to Mitchell's leg and refused to let go, no matter how much the Prairie state begged him to get off.

"Ugh, jus' tell South Dakota or 'ndiana to go 'way," Michael moaned, face-down on his couch.

"You moron, I know who those two are! I dunno this girl, she's too quiet! An' before you say it, she ain't North Dakota either!" Ethan snapped.

"Wait…" Michael's whole form froze. "Was that TODAY?" He jerked, trying to get to his feet. He ended up falling off the couch with a _thud_ , but he jumped back to his feet instantly. Michael wavered a bit where he stood, blinking rapidly and mostly likely getting a massive headrush.

Despite this, he still stumbled around Ethan and came face to face with the girl. Recognition lit up in her eyes and Michael went red, looking quite sheepish. "Uh… was that today?"

She nodded and bit her lip, pointing at his upper body. He glanced down and laughed. He was wearing one of Dylan's shirts. It was too small on him and said "oHIo". Liam walked over to the two states with a dangerously cheerful smile on his face. "Michael? Can I speak with you?"

"If you took advil," Michael bargained.

Liam nodded and the two walked a mere half a dozen feet away. The Minnesotan visibly sighed and rubbed at his face. "Why, pray tell, is there a girl- your sister, apparently, which makes her _our_ sister as well. Why is she here, and WHY did you not tell us about it?"

"Well-" Michael tried to defend himself but Mitchell popped in.

"Have you been keeping secrets from us?"

"Uh-"

Dylan sauntered over to Ethan and the girl. "Yo."

She stared at him. He was the same height as her and falsely appeared to be around her age as well. He was also still wearing only a Bears jersey.

Ethan let out a deep sigh before taking a breath. "Okay, all of you losers better be fully dressed by the time you get to the kitchen, because this is just embarrassing! Liam, I'm using your shirt, because there is no way in hell I'm wearing something with the bears on it." Ethan snatched the plain green cotton shirt from the side table and dragged the girl into the kitchen. He heard scuffling in the living room.

He sat her down at the counter and pulled the shirt on while grabbing some orange juice. He was just going to drink it from the container but glanced at the girl and asked her if she wanted any instead. At her denial he shrugged and just drank from the carton anyway. Her eyes followed him and he sat down heavily at the counter next to her.

"Want anything? Coffee? Water? Beer?" he groaned to himself. "Not beer. Pretend I never said that."

She giggled. "Um, water would be fine. B-but I can get it!" She insisted as Ethan brought himself to his feet. "I know where the glasses are."

"Well, that gives me another slew of questions," Ethan grumbled, going back to his orange juice. She got her water and sat back next to the dairy state quietly. Her eyes were wide and curious.

"Are you Minnesota?" she questioned.

Ethan turned to her in surprise. "No, I'm Wisconsin. Why?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, Michael told me that Minnesota was the most responsible of you four. I just assumed-"

Ethan waved her concern away. "He usually is. I'm just tired is all, usually I'm more… patient."

She nodded in understanding. "It's nice to meet you Wisconsin, I'm Michigan."

Ethan did a double take. "Uh-"

She flushed instantly. "I mean, I'm Upper Michigan! I'm the representation of the Upper Peninsula!"

Ethan stared at her. "How long have you… existed…?"

"I'm not sure…" She looked thoughtful but also sheepish. "I don't remember much from early on, but I know not that long… maybe a year?"

"Jesus." Ethan took another drink from his juice carton. "I'm going to pretend I never heard that."

"Er… sorry…"

Ethan cut in right there. "Not your fault. Michael better be getting an earful right now, though."

As if he had summoned them, Michael and his other idiot brothers stumbled into the kitchen then. Dylan was two seconds away from face-planting but Liam grabbed his collar and shoved him into the counter instead. His grunt was covered by Mitchell complaining loudly about something or other and slumping into the counter stool next to Ethan, taking his orange juice. Ethan protested loudly but gave it up, too tired to truly care.

Michael sheepishly approached the girl, apparently _Upper Michigan_ , and leaned against the counter.

"So, uh… nice weather we're having?"

Ethan chucked an empty cup at Michael's head and he just barely dodged it, ducking his head in shame.

"Do you care to explain, or will I?" Ethan said it like a threat. He saw the girl glancing between him and Michael and he realized what a first impression they were all making on her. Fantastic.

"I will, I will." Michael held his hands up in surrender. His brothers went quiet and inconspicuously leaned forwards.

"This is Thalia, and she is the personification of Upper Michigan."

And then all hell broke lose.

/~~/

Requested/Inspired by: N/A

Ethan scurried around his house, frantically finishing his house cleaning. For being in the middle of the woods, he managed to keep up his place pretty well, but not enough for anything more important than animals and unexpected nations. Copper followed his master around with a wagging tail and lolling tongue.

Ethan cringed and sent his dog outside, his heart breaking internally. Normally he would take a walk with Copper at his time, but he had to finish what he was making, and he was going to have a guest. Ethan assumed that his guest would not appreciate a sloppy, untrained-in-the-fine-arts dog jumping all over him. Perhaps he should get a poodle…? They could hunt too, right?

Therefore, he had to put Copper outside on his rope out back.

His oven beeped obnoxiously and he flinched on command. There was much glaring involved with taking his dish out of the oven. After a few more… finishing touches, it was finished, and he stood back proudly. It had been a while since he had made this, but it looked fantastic.

He tapped a spoon onto the top and it cracked perfectly. Everything was done. It was all perfect. Now, all he needed to do what wait-

The doorbell rang and he scrambled to the door, a bright smile on his face. He flung the door open, opening his mouth to greet-

"Prussia?" Ethan paused. This was not who he expected to see, and his smile faltered in surprise.

Prussia made a broad gesture with his hands. "Francey pants said he couldn't make it, and sent me as a messenger. Idiot, he got all caught up in the past and forgot about texting, I guess."

"Oh…" Ethan wilted slightly but caught Prussia's look and waved his hand carelessly. "That's okay. Wanna come it?"

"Sure!" Prussia grinned widely and sauntered into Ethan's home, examining the walls and furniture. "Wow, you really cleaned up the place." He stopped by the mantle and leaned in, scrutinizing. "Did you polish the wood?"

Ethan flushed and turned so Prussia wouldn't see his cheeks. "No."

Prussia was silent and Ethan didn't turn to see the former germanic nation's doubtful expression.

"Wait… you made food!" Prussia bounded over to Ethan's kitchen and widened his eyes. "Damn. Francis really missed out, huh?"

He sighed and followed Prussia, who was staring at the dish. "It's not real crème brûlée. It's crème brûlée cheesecake. I thought that, well, he would like the Wisconsin twist on crème brûlée. Anyway, since he's not coming… want some?"

Prussia was dead silent, staring at the dessert with an unreadable expression on his face.

Ethan shifted awkwardly. "Um… Prussia?"

The former nation finally turned and clapped his hands on Ethan's shoulders, who yelped quietly in surprise at the sudden contact. "First off, call be Gilbert, we're friends, 'kay 'sconsin? And you are the singularly most awesome personification on this planet, and I'm not a personification anymore really so that dubs me more awesome than you, but your very awesome."

He abruptly let go of Ethan and plopped himself down at the island, placing his elbows on the countertop head on his hands and staring at the food with stars in his eyes. "And I love food."

Ethan laughed and moved to get a knife and plates, knowing that Prussia would consider forks too 'unawesome' for him to use (and Ethan personally preferred using his fingers as well).

He was glad for Prussia. Wait, Gilbert. He hesitated ever so slightly while reaching for the plates. Giving another personification (Ethan considered him a personification regardless of what the albino said) your name was a sign of trust and ultimate friendship.

He placed everything out and served it, grinning when Prussia- Gilbert, complimented his cooking loudly and with a full mouth.

"Oh, and Pr- Gilbert? Call me Ethan."

Until then, he had never seen Gilbert smile so broadly.

* * *

 **I cri. A few notes: Upper Michigan (who is adorable/loves nature/is protected violently by the Midwest) was going to be named Lilly but then: Lilli/Liechtenstein came to mind, so rip that idea. Thalia is pronounced Tah-lee-ah.**

 **Prussia and Wisconsin bro-ness. It was going to be them going to Francis and stuff but I started writing it and it was so .. boring. BUT my friend had made** **crème brûlée cheesecake and it is SO FREAKING GOOD OH MY GOD. (psa: I don't know if it's a wisconsin twist or not but it seems like it so)**

 **Bonding. fun stuff to write. Requests are still open but ye be warned, it'll take a while. :D**


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